New handicrafts development center
September 20, 2004

US Ambassador H. Douglas Barclay , Salvadoran President Elías Antonio Saca and Salvadoran Minister of Economy Yolanda de Gavidia participated in a ceremony to inaugurate a new handicrafts development center (CEDART) in Ilobasco, Cabañas.

In a joint effort with the NGO Aid to Artisans and the Salvadoran Comission for Small Business (CONAMYPE), the US Government through USAID has invested $2.1 million in a project REACH that is designed to stimulate the growth of the handicraft business in El Salvador. The Ilobasco CEDART will provide technical assistance and training to artisans in order to stimulate more jobs and create new designs and products, as web as help the artisans make their businesses more competitive and enable them to export to new markets.

Project REACH will work with three other CEDARTs located in Guatajiagua, Morazán, Nahuizalco, Sonsonate, and La Palma, Chalatenango. Each one will benefit some 400 handicraft workshops.