More than 20 SMEs will be in Sumarse, a project for migrants

More than 20 Ecuadorian exporting SMEs will be part of the Sumarse Migration + Trade + Development project.

Left to right Charles-Michel Geurts, Ambassador of the European Union in Ecuador (witness); Felipe Ante, Institutional Coordinator of the USFQ; Maricela Parra, national director of HIAS Ecuador; Felipe Ribadeneira, Executive President, and Gabriela Urresta, Vice President of Organizational Development at Fedexpor; and Galo Quizanga, HIAS Global Director of Economic Inclusion were at the launch of the Sumarse project.

Companies interested in Sumarse can register at the link https://bit.ly/ProyectoSumarseRegistro. The process will be between June 27 and July 15, 2023.

The execution of the initiative is in charge of the Ecuadorian Federation of Exporters (Fedexpor), the onegé HIAS and the San Francisco de Quito University (USFQ) . The three entities seek to promote the socioeconomic integration of vulnerable people and development, through their links with the export sector.

The experience of the three institutions will generate synergies in three main components: the inclusion and promotion of economic development, and the awareness of the export sector.

A program for migrants

The purpose of Sumarse is to improve the living conditions of refugees, asylum seekers and vulnerable migrants who want to integrate into host communities in Ecuador. The country has received more than 500,000 Venezuelan migrants since 2017.

To be successful, the economic initiative will take into account technical capacities in conjunction with academia, the strengthening of the export sector and the promotion of inclusive trade initiatives.

Felipe Ribadeneira, Executive President of Fedexpor, states that his union seeks to promote these programs that strengthen the export sector and the most vulnerable groups that enter the country in search of employment.

He says that this sector is the most dynamic, however, it is necessary to specialize and adopt quality actions, education and training that Fedexpor partners can provide.

Sumarse is financed with resources from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and has an execution time of 24 months.

Exporting companies in Sumarse

Gabriela Urresta, Vice President of Organizational Development at Fedexpor , explains that Sumarse will directly benefit more than 20 exporting companies for the global market. These represent approximately 2,000 producers, as well as more than 450 people from the most vulnerable groups.

For the identification process of exporting SMEs, they must have a high impact and added value in their production chain and have export actions to the United States.

The three entities will work on trade promotion activities, through participation in international fairs and trade missions, especially in the United States market.