The Young Americas Business Trust (YABT) and Israel's Agency for Development and Cooperation (MASHAV) trained 53 professionals in Costa Rica and Guatemala this February within the framework of the Business Labs program, which is designed to propel innovation and competitiveness in regional entrepreneurships and institutions.

The Business Lab in Costa Rica took place February 4-8, 2013 at the National University of Costa Rica and was led by a number of local entrepreneurs from both public and private institutions. This activity was possible thanks to the support from UNA-Entrepreneurs who coordinated the event on the local level and enabled young entrepreneurs from the country's interior to participate in the Workshop.

In Guatemala, the Business Lab was held on February 11-15, 2013 in Guatemala City and was organized jointly with the Ministry of Economy of Guatemala. In this case, the Workshop focused on training national representatives from public, private and academic institutions.

Both Workshops were managed by Ieoshua Levi and Marcelo Firstman, specialists from the Golda Meir Mount Carmel International Training Center (MCTC) in Haifa, Israel. During every activity, they applied a practical methodological approach, where the participants worked in groups in order to create a business prototype using tools and resources that provide added-value and differentiate the developed proposals.

The closing ceremony of the Workshop in Costa Ricas was attended by the Ambassador of Israel to Costa Rica, David Saban; the dean of the National University of Costa Rica, Sandra León Coto; Gerardo Robinson, Programs Official of the Young Americas Business Trust; Rosy Araya, representing the OAS Office in Costa Rica; and Andrés Zambrano from the Office of Chancellor of Costa Rica. During her speech, the dean opened the floor for the participants to share their impression of the activity with the authorities and media representatives: "we have learnt that it is difficult to grasp innovative thinking, but the process is aided with the guidance from the highly qualified experts here today."

En Guatemala, the official opening event was attended by the Consul of Israel, Tsafrir Bar-Yosef; Sigfrido Lee, Vice-Minister of the Micro, Pequeña y Mediana Empresa; and Gerardo Robinson from YABT. "Only 3% of the business that are registered in Guatemala remain on the market for more than 3 years, and it is for this reason that this activity is very important for the country and we thank the Government of Israel, YABT and the OAS for this opportunity," highlighted Vice-Minister Lee in his address.

For information on upcoming workshops in the region, please click here.