Washington, DC – High-level leaders and executives in the operational, financial and legal areas of companies based in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador have been participating in a five-week online seminar developed by Georgetown’s Latin America Leadership Program (LALP) at the McDonough School of Business and the Center for the Advancement of the Rule of Law in the Americas (CAROLA) at Georgetown Law, in collaboration with the HUGE Business and Investment Council.
“Nearshoring & Sustainable Investment in the Americas” is a program that seeks to understand the practical implications of implementing nearshoring practices, explore challenges and opportunities with real-world examples, understand the paradigm shifts of the supply chain and the actors involved, and build networks with business leaders of the Central American Northern Triangle and the United States.
Ada Hurtarte, Assistant General Manager for Strategic Marketing at Banco Industrial is one of the 40+ C-suite level executives participating in the course. She recently stated, “We are excited to be able to participate in this high-level program, with the aim of strengthening our capabilities to better serve our clients and our country, given the opportunities that Nearshoring represents.” Banco Industrial, a Guatemalan bank, is a Founder of HUGE.
The HUGE (Honduras, USA, Guatemala and El Salvador) Business and Investment Council is a nonprofit business association established by private sector leaders from the Northern Triangle and the United States. The goal of ThinkHUGE is to contribute to the creation of the American Dream in the Northern Triangle through the generation of sustainable jobs, reducing one of the key causes of illegal immigration to the United States. It represents the first joint effort of private sector leaders from all three Central American countries and their United States counterparts to drive massive job creation throughout the region, including in the United States.
Over the past few weeks, the executives have taken an in-depth look into regulatory policies in the United States and Central America, ESG best practices, adaptive leadership, globalization, competitiveness and governance. “The courses have been very enriching. We have already begun to implement what I have been learning from the experts, to encourage and promote nearshoring and friendshoring throughout the region, and enhance our daily tasks,” said Daniela Mejia, Regional Manager at AmCham Honduras.
Some of the professors and guest speakers that the executives have had an opportunity to learn from include Alvaro Santos, Professor of Law and Director of the Faculty of CAROLA in Georgetown Law, Nancy Vega, Leader of Investment Climate and Policy Promotion at the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE), Jaime Granados, Trade and Investment Division Chief of the Integration and Trade Sector of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Diane Garza, CEO of iCatalyze and Ricardo Ernst, Professor of Global Operations and Logistics and Executive Director of the LALP and the Global Business Initiative of the Georgetown Business School.
One of the participants is Wendy Mena, Investment Promotion Advisor at Invest Guatemala, the national agency of Guatemala dedicated to attracting Foreign Direct Investment and increasing the competitiveness of the business environment and sustainable economic growth. She said, “I find the course very complete and clear. All the topics are relevant to what we are working on at the Agency in Guatemala (Invest Guatemala) and I feel that it complements our efforts to promote nearshoring.”
“I think the content is really good and today was one of the best days of the course. It is worth it. All the professors and presenters have a good level of knowledge,” said René Ramos, General Manager at Aristos Inmobilaria.
The C-suite executives will continue the course with lessons on supply chains, investment treaties and prevention of ESG disputes and will receive a certificate from Georgetown University upon completion. The HUGE Business and Investment Council looks forward to working together with Ricardo Ernst, Diane Garza and other educators in the future to develop more learning opportunities for catalysts in the nearshoring and investment promotion space throughout the Northern Triangle and the United States.