Prime Highlights
- Earlier Belize-Taiwan project reached more than 2,700 women, helping many enter non-traditional fields.
- New project to train women and youth in tourism, handicrafts and other sectors.
Key Facts
- Belize and Taiwan sign $3 million deal to support women and youth entrepreneurs.
- Project jointly implemented by Belize’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Taiwan Technical Mission.
Background
The Government of Belize and the Government of the Republic of China, Taiwan, have signed a new three-million-U.S.-dollar agreement to help women and young people strengthen and grow their businesses.
The Belize Women and Youth MSMEs Development Project will provide training, business guidance and support to help entrepreneurs improve their businesses, reach new markets and create jobs.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Francis Fonseca said the initiative reflects the continued confidence both governments place in their partnership, with Belizean women remaining the project’s central focus.
He noted that when a woman starts a business, she often becomes the primary force stabilizing her household’s finances and reinvesting in her community, calling support for women entrepreneurs one of the most direct investments in Belize’s next generation.
The project will be jointly implemented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade, Education, Culture, Science and Technology, along with the Taiwan Technical Mission in Belize, with particular attention given to women and young people.
Ambassador of the Republic of China, Taiwan, Amino Chi highlighted the success of an earlier women’s empowerment initiative launched after the COVID-19 pandemic, which reached more than 2,700 women across Belize’s districts and helped many enter non-traditional fields such as cell phone repair.
Chi said the new project will help train women and youth in entrepreneurship, vocational skills and business development across tourism, indigenous handicrafts and other sectors.
The new initiative builds on earlier cooperation between Belize and Taiwan that supported approximately two thousand women and more than one hundred start-ups.
