San Salvador, Nov 19 (EFE) .- Central America and the Dominican Republic live a "spring of entrepreneurship" driven by a "demographic bonus", better education, access to technologies and articulation of States, said in an interview with Efe Miosotis Rivas, director of a specialized agency of the Central American Integration System (SICA).

"I think we are in that flower "of the" spring of entrepreneurship "because the region is" winning with a demographic bonus "and" people are willing to take a leap towards a new form of opportunities, "said the head of the Regional Center for the Promotion of Micro and Small Enterprises (Cenpromype), attached to the SICA.

He noted that this "spring" has occurred because the population "is much more exposed, by communication technologies, to a greater amount of information "and because" it is much more educated ".

Another factor that has led to the inhabitants of the countries of this region of Latin America is that they generate "little" at the economic level and "people seek in one way or another the way to generate income".

Nevertheless, the official pointed out that they are looking for change the "paradigm" of thinking that only unemployed people undertake with the creation of alliances with educational systems to create courses or careers that promote the "entrepreneurship by opportunity".

He added that the phenomenon is also linked to a greater participation of women and that the "economic empowerment" of these "is something that we have been supporting "so that" each day they have much more opportunity to develop their ideas and enter the market ".

Cenpromype data realize that more than 50% of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the Central American region and the Dominican Republic are led by women, as well as 54% of the enterprises that they accompanied in 2016.

centers of attention to entrepreneurs, which are driven by Cenpromype in partnerships with governments, private entities and the academy, served 20,537 people in 2016, 27% more than in 2015.

Of this total of people, 61% came from established MSMEs and 39% were entrepreneurs, mainly from the areas of services, commerce and industry.

On the other hand Rivas acknowledged that the articulation of the efforts of each Government of the region, through the Cenpromype, has become a "very important asset" for entrepreneurs, which makes their The goal is not limited to markets in their countries of origin, but to be extended through the SICA area.

The official stressed that the benefits of the projects for the region, mainly for El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, not only are they economic, but they work as an element to prevent violence.

"At the end of the day you are giving opportunities and alternatives to the people, because the type of violence that we have in the region -especially in this part of the Northern Triangle- has a lot to do with that ", with the lack of Income, he said.

Homicidal violence in these countries left at least 14,870 people dead in 2016, with murder rates per 100,000 inhabitants of 81.7 in El Salvador, 58 in Honduras and 27.3 in Guatemala, above the 10 that the World Health Organization (WHO) considers an epidemic.

Rivas added that with the work of Cenpromype, focused on guarantee a "healthy ecosystem" for the enterprises, and governments make the region a "fertile ground" so that Central Americans who can be returned from the United States. undertake.

The administration of US magnate Donald Trump will announce next January whether it will extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for some 190,000 Salvadorans, who expires in March 2018.

At the beginning of November, the United States Government announced the suspension of the migratory benefit for 5,349 Nicaraguans and extended the TPS term by 6 months. for some 86.00 Hondurans.

Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic have aligned their activities to promote entrepreneurship to give a message of unity of the ecosystem of support of the region, an effort coordinated by the Cenpromype, specialized entity of SICA.