The AL-INVEST Verde programme, through the implementation of its Component 1, selected 42 projects out of more than 160 proposals received during the Second Call for Proposals for innovative projects. The selected projects will benefit SMEs in countries such as Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.
These projects will focus on two key pillars: the promotion of deforestation-free agricultural value chains and the transition towards low-carbon, resource-efficient and more circular business models. These pillars of work will enable the drive towards a greener and more responsible economy.
"Component 1 is very pleased to have these new projects in addition to the 24 that are already under implementation. The diversity and regional scope of these projects will allow for a significant impact on SMEs and small producers", says Irene Haddad, Team Leader of Component 1 of the AL-INVEST Verde programme.
Throughout its implementation, the programme will provide training, experience exchange activities, identification of best practices, networking activities and other actions to contribute to the productivity and competitiveness of SMEs in the region.
"SMEs are the engine of growth in the region, therefore, this programme is a focus for employment generation and sustainable export development between Latin America and Europe, with a view to the transition to an increasingly circular economy. From Filiera Agricola Italiana (FAGRI), a non-profit organisation dedicated to support the improvement of agricultural/industrial production, as Lead Applicant, and on behalf of the Co-Applicant Partners, the Bolivian Institute of Foreign Trade (IBCE) and the Foundation for Forestry Development (FUNDEFOREST), we thank the European Union and the AL-INVEST Verde programme for joining this international initiative to strengthen business growth", said Marco Loi, FAGRI Representative.
For his part, Julio Silva of CAINCO, a member of the programme's implementing consortium in Bolivia, said: "This project, in particular, is very important for Bolivia, because of its scope in terms of supporting a strategic sector such as agroforestry, aligning it with compliance with international requirements, hence the project will be useful; the strategic alliance between the European Union and Latin America, given its multidimensional relationship, is transcendental and it is hoped that this support for MSMEs can be used to the maximum".
The Bolivian Institute of Foreign Trade (IBCE), as a non-profit technical entity that contributes to the development of the country, has been providing advice for the internationalisation of companies, and has expressed its participation in this initiative. "We are very motivated to carry out this project with AL-INVEST Verde, towards compliance with Regulation 20123/1115 of the European Parliament, which states that products that want to enter this market must be obtained without incurring deforestation," said Alan Camhi, President of the IBCE.
Likewise, during the presentation of the project in Bolivia, FUNDEFORES emphasised the opportunity that production with sustainability represents. "As the Foundation for Forestry Development (FUNDEFOREST) is a non-profit organisation that supports the sector, this project encourages the hope of reactivating it by looking at a large market such as the European Union; it is the opportunity to demonstrate our production capacity with sustainability and for our sales to exceed historic levels: exporting added value, making rational use of the forest and promoting forestry plantations is the slogan", said Pedro Colanzi, Representative of FUNDEFOREST.
About AL-INVEST Verde
AL-INVEST Verde is a European Union programme whose main objective is to promote sustainable growth and job creation in Latin America by supporting the transition towards a low-carbon, resource-efficient and more circular economy. Through Component 1, the programme manages funds for the implementation of innovative projects of small business associations to boost sustainable practices in the private sector. Component 1 is led by sequa, a German non-profit organisation operating worldwide with the aim of promoting the private sector.
For more information visit: www.alinvest-verde.eu
