Small enterprise development project

The project will also include a credit component, not covered by this agreement. INSOTEC will select and train about 200 private consultants (e.g., instructors from technical schools and universities, professional consultants) in 5 secondary cities - Santo Domingo de los Colorados, Babahoyo, Portoviejo, Esmeraldas, and Ibarra - to provide TA to SSE"s. Formal training in TA content and delivery will be complemented by trainees" direct participation in delivering management, production, and marketing TA to SSE"s (typically those using labor and local materials intensively, with strong forward linkages in Ecuador, and whose potential needs for TA are known, e.g., SSE"s in food processing, clothing, and wood products). The best qualified trainees will serve as instructors in TA activities later in the project. Trainees will pay the full costs of their training. INSOTEC"s 3-stage TA delivery program will begin with promotional activities and visits to SSE"s in the 5 cities, conducted in cooperation with local sponsors. Interested SSE owner/operators identified during the visits will be organized in groups for participation in one or more workshops/seminars on topics such as management, accounting, and marketing; follow-on practical courses will offer either more indepth treatment of these topics or focus on problems specific to a type of SSE. Finally, owner/operators will be able to enroll in clinics for groups of 4-5 firms with shared interests or may request individual TA. SSE"s will pay 40-70% of TA costs, depending on type of TA and on size of the SSE; income from these fees will fund additional TA. At least 180 TA activities benefiting some 500 SSE"s are expected; based on these activities, INSOTEC will prepare 5 technical manuals for future training and reference. Through a subgrant from INSOTEC, the Center for Educational Planning, Research, and Technology (CIPTE) will strengthen the ability of SSE representational organizations to identify SSE needs, provide services, and participate in policy dialogue with the public sector. While CIPTE assistance will focus on 8 small artisan, industry, and merchant associations in the 5 secondary cities, it will also target the Federation of Small Industries (FENAPI) and at least one other national federation. Lastly, INSOTEC will conduct or contract for 10 policy studies on the SSE sector. Amendment (9/30/88) increases funding to enable INSOTEC to add a credit component, to be implemented through a subgrant with the Corporacion Financiera Nacional; the component will benefit some 120 INSOTEC clients. (PD-AAZ-242) Amendment of 11/7/90 authorizes INSOTEC to assume execution of the Micros Program in Santo Domingo de los Colorados city. With the assistance of Fundacion Carvajal, INSOTEC will provide training in business administration and TA to small entrepreneurs in the manufacturing, commercial, and services sectors. (PD-ABC-635)