KOICA, '2020 Guatemala Innovation Contest' in the Post-Corona Era

Guatemala Government and International Organizations Collaborate to Seek Solutions for New Normal Era
Winning Team Collaborates with KOICA Trainee Alumni to Develop Ideas and Experience KOICA Projects

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] KOICA announced on the 21st that it will hold the ‘2020 Guatemala Innovation Contest’ in Guatemala, jointly with the Guatemalan government and international organizations, to find innovative ideas for the post-COVID-19 new normal era.

Led by the Office of the Vice President of Guatemala, and involving KOICA, the Guatemalan Ministry of Economy, the Science and Technology Agency, UNDP, and UNICEF, this contest was planned to solicit ideas that innovatively solve various problems in the post-COVID-19 era and to discover young talents to strengthen the capabilities of Guatemala’s future generations.

Specifically, promising business models will be solicited in a total of 10 fields including △innovation in youth education using the internet △innovation in preventing infant and toddler malnutrition △innovation in green economy-based regional development △innovation in entrepreneurship (startup support) △innovation in healthcare △innovation in public administration, and excellent ideas will be selected.

In particular, the winning teams of the contest will be provided with various opportunities to strengthen their capabilities to realize their ideas. KOICA will offer the contest winners a chance to concretize and realize their ideas over three months through matching with experts belonging to the local KOICA Trainee Alumni Association.

Guillermo Castillo, Vice President of Guatemala and former president of the KOICA Alumni Association, said at the contest launch ceremony on the 20th (local time), “The Guatemala KOICA Alumni Association is performing leading roles in both public and private sectors,” and added, “Korea is a model country for Guatemala in the field of innovation, and I express my gratitude to KOICA for its unwavering support in helping the contest winners further develop their innovative ideas by providing capacity-building support from outstanding KOICA Alumni professionals currently working in the field.”

Kang Seung-heon, head of the KOICA Guatemala office, said, “We hope to gather various innovative ideas through the contest, especially expecting brilliant ideas from youth and university students preparing for the post-COVID-19 era,” and added, “This contest will be an important opportunity that will also help shape KOICA’s development cooperation project operations in the new normal era going forward.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.