SELA and CELIEM sign alliance to promote sustainable development in the region

The Latin American Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CELIEM) and the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA) consolidate cooperation processes with the formalisation of a strategic alliance to promote joint actions that add value to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in Latin America and the Caribbean, specifically in promoting the business ecosystem of SMEs in the region.

This alliance is consistent with SELA's multi-year Work Programme, whose Economic Recovery area has proposed, among other objectives, productive coordination to strengthen micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

The Permanent Secretary of SELA, Ambassador Clarems Endara, reiterated that the economic recovery of the Member States is a fundamental task of the organisation, and therefore the strengthening of SMEs is strategic for the sustainable development of the region.

Small and medium-sized enterprises generate 60% of employment and contribute 25% of GDP in the region, so it is essential to cooperate in strengthening the regional SME business ecosystem.

Luis Álvarez Soto, executive director of CELIEM, stressed that they have worked on building cooperation alliances, “because collaboration between actors is essential to enhance human capital. These alliances help us build collaborative agendas to boost the economic development of our countries,” he said.

During the formalisation of the strategic alliance, in addition to the representatives of CELIEM, the following authorities were present: Ricardo Martínez, representative of the Secretariat for Central American Economic Integration (SIECA), and Héctor Dada, director of the Subregional Office of the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB) for Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America.