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Region to benefit from special IDB grants
CMC Jamaica Observer
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
WASHINGTON, USA (CMC) -- Caribbean countries are to benefit from a financial grant approved by the Multilateral Investment Fund (FOMIN) to finance new sustainable tourism projects in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The FOMIN, an autonomous fund of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) that supports projects for small and microenterprises, will offer grants to finance the creation of small tourism business networks, train entrepreneurs in the region to offer high-quality services and market their services.
It said it would seek proposals in several categories including ones that are related to tourism and climate change; information technology and market access; and the development of sustainable tourism in the Caribbean.
"Latin America and the Caribbean is one of the world's most culturally and environmentally diverse region,'' said Santiago Soler, who heads the sustainable tourism cluster at the FOMIN.
"We want to help countries take full advantage of tourism in a way that will preserve their cultural heritage and environment while ensuring that small entrepreneurs run a profitable and high-quality business."
Tourism accounts for 11 per cent of the world's gross domestic product, seven per cent of all job opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean and it is among the top five sources for foreign currency for poor nations.
Soler said the sector is also a labour-intensive industry that offers an important opportunity to increase employment and reduce poverty, particularly among developing nations.
FOMIN began investing systematically on sustainable tourism in 2003 when it selected 25 projects in the region with the primary goal of improving competitiveness of business and developing or creating new tourism destinations in which small businesses and the local community could participate.
Soler said interest has been so strong from countries in the region that the FOMIN is now in the process of selecting new proposals. As many as 350 proposals were submitted in last's year selection process.
"Our role is to help plant the seed. Our local and international partners, together with the local entrepreneurs and communities, have to ensure the work that has been done is preserved and expanded long after the IDB's role has finished."
