Support Facilities in Technical Assistance and Entrepreneurial Development for BF-SMMEs.
Due to their importance and impact on the economy and biodiversity of the region, SMMEs have been identified by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), as the target group to promote the conservation of mountain, aquatic, coastal and marine eco-systems of the Central American Region, through the change in the productive and service practices, encouraging enterprises to develop more sustainable activities that are banking businesses and biodiversity friendly.
With this purpose, the Central American Markets for Biodiversity Project (CAMBio) is executed. CABEI, through its network of financial intermediaries, puts at the service of the beneficiary countries’ SMMEs, credit funds for biodiversity friendly investments.
Likewise, in order to complement the financing, the Global Environment Facility has contributed with a special fund to create in the CAMBio’s Project two Facilities for Support of SMMEs Capacities and for the Intermediary Financial Institutions (IFIs) involved:
FACT: Facility that offers funds to support the development of technical capacities.
FACE: Facility that offers funds to support the development of entrepreneurial capacities.
Both programs are supported by Suppliers of Technical and Entrepreneurial Assistance, with a wide thematic and geographic experience, in issues such as certification of productions, development of businesses, and marketing and research of markets, among others.
FACT and FACE BENEFICIARIES
Biodiversity friendly SMMEs, defined as those that make business that:
- Will change their production or processing system to increase the habitat of wild species and/or to reduce their damage, stimulating the growth and conservation of biodiversity.
- Will stimulate the market of goods and services produced with biodiversity friendly methods and ways.
- Because of their nature or location, lead to the reduction of damages toward biodiversity.
- Will reduce negative impacts on biodiversity.
CABEI’s IFIs interested in financing biodiversity friendly investments.
Reach of the Technical and Entrepreneurial Support
The support to the BF-SMMEs cannot exceed the 10% of the credit approved and will be based on the distribution of costs coverage in the following way:
TYPE OF ENTERPRISE |
MAXIMUM CONTRIBUTION OF CAMBio * |
MAXIMUM CONTRIBUTION OF THE ENTERPRISE OR ANOTHER SPONSOR |
Micro-Enterprise |
95% |
5% |
Small Enterprise |
50 to 70% |
30 to 50% |
Medium Enterprise |
30 to 50% |
50 to 70% |
* Please consider that the percentage of support by the CAMBio Project will be established out of an individual analysis.
TYPE OF SERVICES
The Support Facilities in Technical Assistance and Entrepreneurial Development (FACT and FACE), [Facilidades de Apoyo en Asistencia Técnica y de Desarrollo Empresarial], support SMMEs in the development of functional areas that are part of their productive systems and their entrepreneurial development. They also support the IFIs that mediate CABEI-CAMBio funds, in subjects related to the analysis and evaluation of proposal of biodiversity friendly investments.
For more information on how to apply for this support, please contact the CAMBio Project (info@proyectocambio.org) or the CABEI Country Offices..
