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Entrepreneurship and innovation, fundamental drivers for Central America
By Eproint
According to a report of the Regional Centre for the Promotion of SME´s (CENPROMYPE), a specialized body of the Central American Integration System (SICA), entrepreneurship and innovation are fundamental drivers of economic development in SICA member states.The report, published in May 2021, further notes that trends in competitive indicators for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region remain constant, with a stable outlook.
The report describes the legal norms that States establish for doing business and the protection they provide to companies at different productive levels. For this reason, the Regional Center's report points out that improving productivity, increasing the level of competitiveness and management are key to the development of SMEs.
The Secretary General of SICA, Vinicio Cerezo, notes that “the foundations for a future economy must be strengthened; characterized by greater competitiveness that is inclusive and supportive, that allows for greater prosperity of the people, which favors the diversification of the business sector and structural changes in production models allowing for the generation of more and better quality jobs”.
The support to SMEs was part of the actions within the framework of the SICA Regional Contingency Plan against Coronavirus, which began to be implemented in March 2020.
The sector has received financial support from the following:
-The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) approved the signing of two loan contracts for an aggregate amount of USD 130 million with the International Cooperation and Development Fund (Taiwan ICDF) of the Republic of China (Taiwan).
-The E-Commerce Reactivation Fund, SICA-EMPRENDE, created for businesses in the region. In total, the non-refundable fund amounted to USD 120,000.
-SICA, through its specialized agencies, has secured approximately 1.4 million euros (approximately USD 1,630,963.54) for micro, small and medium-sized companies in priority border municipalities of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama.
-SICA, through CENPROMYPE, benefited small companies with funds from “Female Entrepreneurship” (USD 100,000) and with the economic reactivation fund for electronic commerce (USD 120,000).
Eproint
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In El Salvador, Practice Head Edy Guadalupe Portal is a partner at Eproint and has more than 25 years of experience in Intellectual Property. Since 1995, she has been recognized as the Salvadoran voice of Intellectual Property protection for always informing the IP community about changes to IP law and international treaties.
During her career, Mrs. Portal has helped numerous international law firms and in-house counsel with all facets of their IP matters in El Salvador and Central America. Her extensive practice includes work in trademarks, patents, industrial designs, utility models, copyrights, unfair competition, foreign investment, regulatory law/health registrations, licensing, franchising, appellations of origin, geographical indications, IP litigation, fashion law, new technologies, data privacy, cybersecurity, domain names, entertainment law, advertisement law, trade secrets, valuation of intangibles, and IP due diligence. She is also recognized for the great anti-piracy and anti-counterfeiting results she has delivered for her clients. She also helps coordinate Latin America Intellectual Property Protection for the firm.