Under the slogan "Let no one be left behind", the  International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Fundación Activados Panamá held on November 25, 2021, the official presentation of the project Acelerando Tu Emprendimiento, a program that promotes the talent of Venezuelan entrepreneurs in the Isthmus and is carried out thanks to the financial support of the  U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM).   

In the presentation, which was held virtually, more than 70 people participated, including representatives of both organizations, the entrepreneurs selected for this project, organizations involved in the program, and special guests. 

Later, on Sunday, December 5,  the first face-to-face workshop was held,  which coincided with the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the creation of   IOM  and the commemoration of International Volunteer Day. They brought together mentors, representatives of both organizations, and entrepreneurs from the first two cohorts of Migrando Al Emprendimiento, who from that moment on were  working with the Acelerando Tu Emprendimiento program. 

The workshop began with the participation of the expert in digital marketing, Mich Milano. Milano urged entrepreneurs to be creative, to tell stories that attract the attention of their audiences. Luis Davis, from Servicios Contables Panamá, spoke  about personal finances and corporate finances, highlighting the topic of budgeting and understanding the clients.   

The presentation on assertive sales was in charge of the international coach Carlos Marcano, who defined selling as "the act that consists of inducing and persuading someone, in order to modify their opinion or make them adopt a certain action, behaviour or attitude". To complete  the workshop, Marieva Vegas of Meta Stream and La Movida Emprendedora, explained to entrepreneurs how to successfully undertake their enterprises, inviting them to have confidence in what they do. 

On Saturday, December 18, the date on which International Migrants Day was commemorated, the entrepreneurs who completed the Acelerando Tu Emprendimiento project participated in a bazaar in Costa del Este, which allowed them to show their business proposals to representatives of IOM, part of the board of directors of the Fundación Activados Panamá,  representatives of the Venezuelan Panamanian Chamber of Entrepreneurs (CEPAVEN), Coalición por Venezuela, Fundación Amistad Panamá Venezuela, among other special guests. 

Finally, on Sunday 19, the closing day of the program was took place with a workshop given by the Gestalt Panama Training Center and ended with the delivery of valuable seed capital to 20 of the participating entrepreneurs.   

"We have seen with satisfaction the culmination of a project that IOM is betting on, which is called entrepreneurship," said  Santiago Paz,  Head of the Panama Administrative Centre and Chief of Mission in Panama. "The promotion of entrepreneurship is an important integration mechanism and can accelerate the contributions of migrants and refugees as agents of development in the process," he added.   

"Our main objective was for the participating entrepreneurs to take a spiritual, professional strengthening and to put on the hero's cape that we all wore when we decided to migrate. From now on, try to focus, not on what you lack, but on what you want for the future," said Adriana Rincón, president of the  Fundación Activados Panamá.   

For more information, contact IOM Panama's communications team via the iompanama@iom.int email.