Panama: Entrepreneurial Opportunities Network for Poor Families

This three-year joint programme seeks to reduce levels of poverty, especially in rural areas and indigenous regions, by supporting the poor population in starting up sustainable micro-enterprises with an emphasis on the farming and tourism sectors.

Based on a principle of human development with fairness of distribution, the programme aims to bridge the gap between the existing Opportunities Network (a government programme for conditional monetary transfers) and the Impulse Panama programme, which is aimed at consolidating medium-sized firms. The proposed joint programme, “Entrepreneurial Opportunities Network for Poor Families”, takes an intercultural approach which includes: (i) adequate public policies, (ii) access to the resources of production, (iii) cost and risk reduction, (iv) greater productivity and better working conditions, including integration into broader clusters and access to a wider range of goods and services.