Cultural Assembly Plants
The cultural assembly plants are centres for the preparation and development of entrepreneurial initiatives, which aim at strengthening the country´s human and productive capital through the creation of small and medium-sized culture based projects, which are innovative, create jobs and contribute to human development. The idea is to establish a space for social and cultural interaction for local people, where actions including basic training, design of and support for the development of entrepreneurial initiatives take place. The target population includes specifically young people, who neither receive training or study nor work, unemployed women heads of family and persons with some kind of impairment. (http://mec.gub.uy/innovaportal/v/2956/8/mecweb/fabricas_de_cultura).
Challenges identified in the implementation of this measure:
Due to external factors not related to product quality or pricing some participants met with obstacles to their marketing possibilities as a result of the competition of imported products.
In 2007 training started in 9 cultural assembly plants, and currently a total of 23 are working throughout the country. They offer a space for training and the development of entrepreneurial initiatives, courses and seminars, follow-ups and expert advice concerning legal, accounting and sales aspects.
Work areas: fashion design, bags and briefcases, woollen accessories, textiles, handmade jewelry, furniture design and restoration, thistle accessories, leather goods, pottery, dolls and puppets, wooden toys, cowhide handicrafts, products derived from the butia palm tree, glass bricks.
US$181,800.00
A high percentage of participants, who finished their training and have since been working on setting up their own initiatives. Sustainable market access.