TİKA Built an Innovation Center in Colombia

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) built a “Center for Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Modeling” in Casanere Chamber of Commerce in Yopal, the capital of Casanare Department, Colombia.

Designs and models that will appeal to the entire region will be produced in the first and only innovation center of the region, which was built as part of the project implemented in cooperation with Casanare Chamber of Commerce, which provides training, research, design, and modeling services to 27,000 companies in the fields of business development and product quality improvement.

Thanks to the center built in the region, which is very rich in underground and above-ground products, many entrepreneurs and companies will be able to carry out the modeling, design, and preliminary measurement of the products that they will put on the market. They will also be able to attend the training courses and seminars at the center.

TİKA provided equipment and measurement devices, including those made in Turkey, to the center. Within this framework, high-tech devices such as 3D printers, 3D scanners, laser cutting and engraving machines, mini CNC machines, high-resolution laser printers, and computers to be used for design were provided to the center.

Commenting on the operation of the center at the delivery ceremony of the project, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Coordinator of Casanere Chamber of Commerce Nelson Muñoz Osman said, “Employees of companies who wish to develop products, services, or prototypes will be able to come here and make their innovation dreams come true. Companies will be able to monitor the prototypes manufactured here and measure their effects before or right after launching their products. Thanks to its state-of-the-art equipment, the center will improve the competitiveness of companies.”

In his speech, General Manager of Casanere Chamber of Commerce Carlos Rojas Arenas said, “The inauguration of Casanare’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation by TİKA is extremely important for us. Only 7 of 58 chambers of commerce across Colombia have a center that can provide the services we launch today. We thank Turkey for granting us this privilege.”

Viviana Ocampo, a business owner who started to work in the newly-built Center, said, “I set up a company that designs and manufactures eco-friendly notebook covers. The notebooks and book covers, which are entirely made from recycled materials, are in high demand. Thanks to this center, which was built by Turkey, I will be able to build prototypes for my ideas and introduce them to the market.”