The Bogota Mayor’s office steps up its efforts toward re-activation by endorsing bold new initiatives like, "Local Impulse." Within each borough, a three million pesos cash-injection is expected to land on those who own and operate small grassroots ventures. This helps provide some room for these entrepreneurs to thrive in what was once a stagnant economy. "Microempresa Local 2.0" is even bolder still, it gives owners of small businesses a boost of ten million pesos to cover basic costs like overhead, payroll and various day-to-day costs.
“We pushed for two things this year: to identify who is starting up, who has some basic training but need money to help launch a business from those who already have a business off the ground and simply need a boost to help grease the machine. In both cases more flexibility is needed to cover basic costs to pay suppliers or payroll, for example,” stated Mayor Claudia López.
Entities like the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will see to it that beneficiaries of these programs are offered adequate training and specialised technical guidance to help them navigate through daunting tasks like financing, marketing or business strategy. This helps install useful habits that will come in handy down the line for any new business.
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According to Larry Sacks, Director of USAID Colombia, “USAID's role is to contribute to job recovery, strengthen small and medium-size enterprises, promote entrepreneurship; responding to the needs faced by the people, women, the migrant population. Hence the importance of these alliances that generate trust, hope and new economic opportunities and that respond to the great challenges that the city has had to face.”
These two programs, in which almost 50 billion pesos will be invested, are part of ‘Bogotá Local.’ In which, the Government Secretariat and each borough’s Mayor’s Office will endeavour to bring each locality back from the ground up, keeping in mind the problems and particularities that each one faces. Not to mention helping those who were most affected by unemployment and the economic aftermath of the pandemic.
“One of the most interesting aspects of this ambitious program in terms of economic recovery is that it was built from participatory budgets, and responds to the localities and merchants who wanted to re-activate the local economy. Our support consists of providing the technical assistance that businessmen need today,” said Javier Pérez Burgos, the Area Manager for Poverty and Inequity Reduction of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
The support will set it sights mainly at enterprises run by women, young people, artists, less qualified workers and micro-entrepreneurs, who have met with much adversity in the labour market and need a guiding hand.
Bogota Local 2020 Results
Luis Ernesto Gómez, Secretary of Government, said that “we have been listening to the beneficiaries of Bogotá Local last year, the local entrepreneurship program, that we made the adjustments for are what we will be announcing today, by remembering to be more relevant and precise in our approach."
In this regard, one of the entrepreneurs who benefited from these initiatives, such as Elizabeth Moscoso, indicated that micro-entrepreneurs are "an example of strength." Mrs. Moscoso applauded the program and admitted that it went a long way towards helping businesses cover basic costs like overhead, suppliers, and payroll.
Finally, the Mayor thanked the citizens for the timely payment of their tax obligations. “I never get tired of thanking the homes, families, merchants and businessmen of Bogotá every day who, despite the difficult year, continue to pay their taxes promptly, because without these taxes we would not be able to provide this or any kind of support. This is why we administer them with the utmost transparency,” said the Mayor.
Last year, the Secretary of Government together alongside the local mayors allocated $276 billion to the reconstruction of local economies. Programs like this invest in the people and give them opportunities to flourish not only for themselves but on the behalf of their loved ones as well.
This is how the Bogota social rescue is going…
It is worth remembering that in recent weeks the District has announced programs to help the economic re-activation of the city, such as ‘Parceros Por Bogotá.’ This initiative will seek to improve the quality of life of more or less 5,000 youths who neither study nor work and who find themselves at risk of falling through the cracks of society. ‘Empleo Joven,’ offers 50,000 jobs for young people with a subsidy of 80% of their overall salary.
There are also bold new programs such as ‘Creo En Mí,’ which helps support 1,000 women entrepreneurs, offering them high-level advice, how to access a wider market, how to broaden their supply network. With the added benefit of 110 small and medium-size enterprises, which will account for training in soft and technical skills, access to marketing channels and help forge important bonds with UNDP and USAID. Opportunities like this give small business owners the optimum change at thriving in a new economy, not only for their own sake but for those around them.
Likewise, 1,200 small and medium-size enterprises will be allocated from the District Account Fund for Innovation, Technology and Creative Industries to generate 3,800 jobs. ‘Competitiveness Route’ was created, which will provide support for the strengthening and internationalization of 10,000 small and medium-size enterprises.
"The social rescue of Bogotá has already begun, the economic re-activation has already begun, the generation of employment with the public works that we are doing also generate a lot of employment, each school, each health center, the metro, the green corridors on Seventh Ave, each bike path,” stressed the Mayor.
