by Charles Gladden

TOLEDO DISTRICT, Thurs. Aug. 24, 2023

Over 50 women featured at the opening ceremony on Tuesday, August 22 for three Maya Houses of Cacao, an empowerment training project in the Toledo District.

The three projects, entitled “Women’s Vocational Training Value–Added Chocolate Production”, “Maya House of Cacao Incubation Centre Training for MSMEs”, and “Maya House of Cacao Incubation Centre Staff Training,” are being funded by Taiwan ICDF under the program titled “Enhancing the Economic Empowerment of Women in Belize in the COVID-19 Post-Pandemic Era,” with the cooperation of the Government of Belize and Taiwan, and the Toledo Cacao Growers Association (TCGA).

The sessions will be facilitated by the TCGA from late August to the end of September 2023. The “Women’s Vocational Training Value–Added Chocolate Production” will see 30 women being engaged with various types of training in business strategy and innovation, as well as food processing and packaging design. “Maya House of Cacao Incubation Centre Training for MSMEs” will train 12 women entrepreneurs in business management, human resource management, research and development, finance and accounting, as well as marketing strategy. And “Maya House of Cacao Incubation Centre Staff Training” will provide 10 women with skills to operate and manage the incubation center, and to provide support for their future clients’ business development.

Present at the opening ceremony were H.E. Lily Li-Wen Hsu, Ambassador of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to Belize; H.E. Amalia Mai, CEO of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Immigration; Mr. Justino Peck, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the TCGA; Mr. Orlando Coc, Managing Director of the TCGA; Mr. Robert Pan, Chief of Taiwan Technical Mission in Belize; and Mr. Miguel Wang, Project Manager of the Women Empowerment Project.