BELMOPAN, Belize – The ministry of investment, through its Investment Policy and Compliance Unit (IPCU), in collaboration with the Taiwan Technical Mission, the ministry of human development, family support, and gender affairs, the Punta Gorda Town Council, and the Toledo Community College, launched a training titled “Cell Phone Repair Training for Women in Belize.”
This initiative aims to create self-employment opportunities for participants by equipping them with technical skills in the cleaning, upkeep, maintenance, and repair of cell phone devices. The training responds to a national shortage of skilled technicians and the lack of cell phone repair services in various parts of the country, particularly in southern Belize, where no formal training course currently exists.
The ministry of investment aims to diversify export-led economic activity in the Toledo District by enhancing skills and the entrepreneurial spirit of the citizens, especially in growth sectors such as the Orange Economy.
Present at the opening of the training were Thea Garcia-Ramirez, minister of human development, family support & gender affairs; His Worship Carlos Galvez, mayor of Punta Gorda Town Council; Andrew Su, chief of the Taiwan Technical Mission in Belize; Frantz Smith, investment policy officer in the Investment Policy and Compliance Unit; Indira Usher, foreign service officer in the ministry of foreign affairs, foreign trade, culture, and immigration; Abisur Quintal, instructor and owner of Jarvis Fix; and Shaunna Sanchez, principal of the Toledo Community College.
In 2024, IPCU, alongside the National Women’s Commission, introduced a pilot cell phone repair training program for women in the Corozal and Orange Walk Districts. The program successfully empowered participants to earn additional income from home by offering repair services for mobile phones, devices widely used by content creators in the Orange Economy.
Building on this success, the ministry secured funding from the Taiwan Technical Mission to expand the initiative, with the Toledo District as the first beneficiary.
