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Support our projects in Ecuador

Fields of cooperation – In 1999 Swisscontact initiated together with the Ministry of Industry (which was substituted in 2001 by the Ministry of Labour) a training program for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) based upon coupons. This program contributes with a voucher system to the development of the service market for economical facilitation and herewith contributes to the SMEs’ competitiveness. The project is financed by the national fond for the advancement of employment. The Ministry of Labour is responsible for the implementation of the project, while Swisscontact is responsible for the financial management und the support of the project team in technical matters.

We offer different types of vouchers: With training vouchers entrepreneurs and their staff receive up to 75% reduction in over 800 off-the-job training programs. Using vouchers for technical support entrepreneurs are able to occupy consultancy services to achieve concrete improvements in their enterprises. Furthermore we offer scholarship vouchers that enable vocational school graduates to gain in-business experiences.

Partners – Most of the apprenticeship programs are offered by non-governmental organisations and academic institutions. During the last year we put in a lot of effort to convince private education centres to also join the program. Technical support is granted by 125 consultants offering their services within the project’s field of occupancy. The most valuable partners for the scholarship program are public and private schools, their teachers and last but not least entrepreneurs who allow the participants to gain in-business experiences over a period of six weeks.