Fellowship program targets Costa Rica, Chile

Six-week fellowships are aimed at helping Latin Americans better understand U.S. business practices.

Chile and Costa Rica, considered two of the most competitive economies of Latin America, on Tuesday helped inaugurate the International Business Fellows Matching Program (IBFMP), a new U.S. initiative to promote the exchange of ideas and best practices among the region’s small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

As we move further to expand our export base, we must put in place more effective policies to support entrepreneurship, develop small and medium-sized businesses and strengthen their export and investment capability. What we want to do is generate opportunities for small and medium enterprises that will improve their prospects for participating in global value chains, which is the new order of the day.

The six-week fellowships are aimed at helping Latin Americans better understand U.S. business practices in the area of value chains, procurement, manufacturing, marketing and management.

The International Business Fellows Matching Program offers a priceless opportunity for SMEs in both Chile and Costa Rica and will contribute to opening their horizons, expanding their knowledge and empowering them by sharing best practices with their counterparts in the United States. The added beauty of this program is the symmetry that’s going to come out of it. It will also offer American companies linkages to the Chilean and Costa Rican markets.

The idea is to focus on best practices, on what everyone does best, to build more inclusive societies. This is really what President Obama’s partnership for initiatives is all about. It’s a race to the top, and we know we compete with each other to ensure our young people are as creative and empowered as they could be.

Small businesses are often where the greatest number of jobs come from, the first woman ever to occupy this particular position at the State Department. “This matching program connects enterprises from across the hemisphere, mentoring and creating relationships that will last well beyond the six weeks of someone’s fellowship.

Posted by Costa Developers