Santo Domingo, December 5^th, 2022. - The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), through the CABEI Social Assistance Foundation and together with Solidarios, Council of American Development Foundations, held for the second year the CABEI-SOLIDARIOS Microenterprise Awards ceremony, which recognizes the initiatives with the best performance and innovation developed in 2022 and the most impactful life stories of microenterprise entrepreneurs in the Latin American region.

The award ceremony was led by the President of the Dominican Republic Luis Abinader, First Lady Raquel Arbaje, CABEI Executive Director for the Dominican Republic Hostos Rizik, the Minister of Industry, Commerce and MSMEs (MICM), Víctor -Ito- Bisonó and the President of Solidarios, Juan Francisco Banegas, as well as personalities and representatives of the MSME sector, the national and regional private banking sector, and international and multilateral organizations.

CABEI Executive President, Dr. Dante Mossi, emphasized that "with this award ceremony, we wish to highlight the Bank's commitment to strongly promote sustainable enterprises; we will continue to foster the region's productive development, a good example of which are these entrepreneurs who are being recognized today.

For his part, CABEI Executive Director for the Dominican Republic Hostos Rizik, "We celebrate this second edition of the CABEI - Solidarity Awards, supporting entrepreneurship and the work of the MSME sector in the national productive sector, emphasizing that they are generators of quality jobs, wellbeing and development, boosting the national economy.

This year, 18 microentrepreneurs from different countries in the Latin American region were recognized in eight categories.

Inoel Luna De La Rosa received the top award for Regional Microenterprise of the Year for his ecotourism project "Luna Herrera Travel", located in Los Cacaos de San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic. Wilmer Batista Vargas won in the Young Entrepreneur Award category for "Platinium Barbershop", located in Santiago Rodríguez, Dominican Republic, and Giovanny Ceballos Pérez won in the Environmental Impact Award category for his "Organic Rice Husk Fertilizer", located in Bonao, Dominican Republic.

Nayllire Santana Guerrero was recognized in the Microenterprise Digital Innovation Award category for his project "NSG Technology", located in Santiago Rodríguez, Dominican Republic. Elpidio De Jesús won in the Resilient Entrepreneur Award category for his primary care project "Centro Médico De Jesús La Comuna" in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

The winner in the Agricultural Development Award category was Rafael Morillo with his "Miel Morillo" located in San Francisco de Macorís, Dominican Republic. In the Family Microenterprise Award category, Angela Salas García won for her project "Restaurante El Cangrejo Azul", located in Miches, Dominican Republic.

Meanwhile, Daniel Antonio Chicas, from Atlantida, Honduras, won the Tourism Commerce Award for "Liberty Tours". Meanwhile, María Eva Ramos Martínez won the Award for Artisan Creativity for "Niná Studio" in Chacao, Venezuela. 

The jury committee was composed of CABEI Executive President Dante Mossi; Hostos Rizik, CABEI Executive Director for the Dominican Republic; María José Martínez, Vice-Minister of the General Directorate of Public Credit; and Addys Then Marte, Technical Vice-Minister of Planning and Development of the Ministry of Women's Affairs. Also present were Carolina Ramos de Marranzini, advisor to the Governor's Office of the Central Bank; Enrique Fernández, consultant and microfinance expert; Gisselle Rohmer, senior investment specialist for Latin America at the International Finance Corporation; and Arturo Bisono, director of Family Agriculture at Supérate.

Also present were Jatnna Tavárez, president of Producciones Jatnna; Jorge Morales Paulino, vice minister for the promotion of Mipymes of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Mipymes; María Isabel Pérez, executive president of Fundación Reservas del País; Raúl Rizik Yeb, executive president of Grupo Mejía Arcalá; Marina Ortiz, executive director of FondoMicro; José Luis De Los Santos Roa, manager of Grupo Editorial Gala; and Francisco Danilo Cabral, president of Danilo Music.

The program opened a regional call for nominations for Argentina, Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Uruguay and Venezuela, to receive nominations from entrepreneurs who are clients of microfinance institutions publicly recognized as active in the sector.