[{"bbox": [85, 152, 1145, 323], "category": "Text", "text": "their application and determining the necessary steps to ensure compliance. Therefore, digital traceability, in particular of the production process, will support the Guatemalan agricultural sector in meeting the challenges it is facing along its key value chains, and thus comply with requirements of international certifications. Digital traceability allows the digital storage and management of data from the entire supply chain, from production to processing, transportation and prices paid, also making all the information available to the final consumer, favouring transparency, accountability and compliance with the new EU legislation."}, {"bbox": [85, 336, 1145, 532], "category": "Text", "text": "Access to finance is another key challenge for the most vulnerable population due to the scarcity of financing instruments, particularly loans, suitable for SMEs and micro-entrepreneurs which constrains investment and growth. In 2022, only around 37% of the adults in Guatemala had an account at a bank or regulated institution such as a credit cooperative, microfinance institution, or a mobile money service provider (43% in average for Central America and Dominican Republic)¹⁸. This financing gap is even higher for rural populations, the poorest households¹⁹ and for women (female account ownership of 34% vs. 40% for male). The gender financing gap has even broadened in 2017-2022 from 4% to 6%."}, {"bbox": [85, 548, 1145, 720], "category": "Text", "text": "Digital finance emerges as a catalyst for narrowing the gender gap. For women and girls, the digital revolution represents one of the biggest opportunities to gender equality, but it is not exempt from threats. Women continue to be significantly underrepresented in both finance and technology in Guatemala. But women cannot be economically active in an increasingly digital world if they cannot transact digitally. Digital financial inclusion is a necessary condition for women to be digitally included and economically empowered and this is the reason why financial inclusion will be one of the key components of the intervention."}, {"bbox": [85, 733, 1145, 847], "category": "Text", "text": "Improving financial inclusion in Guatemala is a cornerstone to boosting inclusive medium-term growth and build resilience against climate change. Many micro enterprises in Guatemala struggle to access affordable financing in the formal financial sector, and use credit cooperatives and non-bank financial institutions. The country's MSMEs finance gap is estimated at 22% of GDP²⁰."}, {"bbox": [85, 860, 1145, 1030], "category": "Text", "text": "The National Financial Inclusion Strategy for Guatemala 2019-2023 (ENIF) aims at expanding and improving access and use of financial products and services to different segments of the population according to their needs, especially unbanked population, many of these efforts are oriented to market outreach of existing partial credit guarantee funds (e.g., MSMEs Guarantee Fund). Therefore, there is a significant potential for the expansion of inclusive finance in Guatemala. The portfolio of the Guatemalan microfinance sector in 2022 amounted to 584.3 million dollars (500 092 loans) and grew at 28.2% annually."}, {"bbox": [85, 1045, 1145, 1243], "category": "Text", "text": "The proposed intervention on financial inclusion will be implemented through a blending operation (following the structure of TIF I) - **Triple Inclusive Finance (TIF)²¹ for Guatemala (TIF4G)** - that will offer Technical Assistance along with a Debt Facility that will channeled through local partners, complementing the debt facility established by the development finance institution. The TIF4G expects to reach at least 40 000 beneficiaries of which around 65% women. Indirect beneficiaries can be estimated of up to 250 000 (household members of direct beneficiaries). The intervention proposed by SIDA will target at least two credit and savings cooperatives that serve the most vulnerable population."}, {"bbox": [85, 1257, 1145, 1457], "category": "Text", "text": "Finally, this action is foreseen to be complemented by a multi-country initiative in support of the deep integration process between El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Guatemala, and Central America in general, continue with challenges in their economic integration process and the maximum use of the opportunities offered by the EU-CA AA for trade development and foreign direct investment attraction. In this sense, the Guatemala-Honduras Deep Integration process, although successful and relevant in the regional framework as an engine of economic growth and investment attraction, still presents challenges at the level of implementation and expansion with the inclusion of El Salvador. The process requires expanding investment in infrastructure, equipment, electronic signature and"}, {"bbox": [85, 1505, 1145, 1583], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹⁸ Global Findex data base. Out of the Central American countries and Dominican Republic, only Nicaragua (26%) and El Salvador (37%) is behind Guatemala in account ownership (according to figures in 2021. According to the Superintendencia de Bancos (SIB) (Boletín Trimestral de Indicadores de Inclusión Financiera, dic. 2022) in Guatemala there were 3,478.1 accounts through mobile money providers per 10,000 adults (35%) and only 12.6% of adults had at least a banking loan in 2022."}, {"bbox": [85, 1582, 1145, 1622], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹⁹ In 2022, among adults in the richest 60 % of households, 39% have an account, while only 34% of the poorest 40% of households. This gap has narrowed consistently in 2017-2022 from 23 to 5 percentage points."}, {"bbox": [85, 1621, 1070, 1641], "category": "Footnote", "text": "²⁰ Guatemala SCD Update Building a Stronger Social Contract through Productive, Inclusive and Sustainable Growth. World Bank .March 2022"}, {"bbox": [85, 1640, 320, 1661], "category": "Footnote", "text": "²¹ https://www.programatif.com/"}, {"bbox": [1027, 1681, 1145, 1706], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 13 of 39"}]