By the A.M. Costa Rica staff 

Costa Rican entrepreneurs, owners of small and medium-size businesses won access to $845,000 in non-reimbursable funds to invest in their companies, the Costa Rican Export Promotion Agency announced on Tuesday.

"Costa Ricans will be able to access non-reimbursable funds for its productions, and in this way, can be more competitive," said the agency in its statement.

The funds are part of two aid programs for entrepreneurs, Green Growth and Discover, which awarded the winners who presented their projects in areas such as environmental sustainability, improvements in the export capacity of companies, the diversification of agriculture, fishery and attracting investment in rural areas.

These competitions were promoted by the agency with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Trade, the Ministry of Agriculture, Costa Rican USA Foundation for Cooperation (CRUSA), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Bank System for Development (SBD ).

The winners had previously participated in two competitions.

In the first, Green Growth, 51 small and medium-sized companies were chosen, which will have access to $643,000 in total.

Of these companies, 49% belong to the agricultural sector, 22% to the food industry, 25% to specialized industries and 4% to the service sector. In addition, 55% has export potential and 51% are located in the rural zone of the country.

In the second contest, Discover awarded 18 entrepreneurs who will have access to $202,000. Of these companies, 56% are located in the rural zone of the country, 61% are from the agricultural sector, 33% are from agribusiness and 6% are related to fishery activity. Also, 89% have export potential.

"These programs allow us to support the productive reconversion of medium and small Costa Rican companies entrepreneurs, and we are convinced that through this process we can take advantage of the opportunities of international markets," said Dyalá Jiménez, Minister of Foreign Trade. "The current situation represents a big challenge for us, but also a great opportunity to relaunch with products that respond to the new needs of consumers: more knowledgeable, more concerned about health, the traceability of food, the environmental impact and social impact of what they buy. ”

During the application period of both contests the staff of the organizations previously mentioned supported the contestants during the process of formulating their projects, the agency said.

The full list of winners is available on the Green Growth website.



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