The Latin-American Secretary General, Enrique V. Iglesias and the everis Foundation President, Eduardo Serra, have signed an agreement in Madrid to launch the "Latin-American Awards for Innovation and Entrepreneurship." These awards aim to stimulate the development of innovation and entrepreneurship among young people, mainly Latin Americans, and to reward innovative projects and start-ups.

The Latin-American Secretary General, Enrique V. Iglesias and the everis Foundation President, Eduardo Serra, have signed an agreement in Madrid to launch the "Latin-American Awards for Innovation and Entrepreneurship." These awards aim to stimulate the development of innovation and entrepreneurship among young people, mainly Latin Americans, and to reward innovative projects and start-ups.

Among those who have been associated with these awards - which are in response to a mandate from the Latin-American Summit of Heads of State and Government - are public bodies and/or private companies in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Spain, Mexico and Peru. The partner for Spain is the everis Foundation, already well-known for its annual entrepreneur awards.

The official call for the awards, the value of which is between €20,000 and €50,000, will be made before March, and presentation is scheduled for the next Latin-American Summit to be held in mid-November in Mar del Plata (Argentina).

To be eligible to apply, projects must be submitted by people under 35 years old individually or in teams, consisting of 2 to 3 people who have been winners or finalists for the everis Entrepreneurs Foundation award. Projects should be related to innovation in areas such as technology, products and services, management processes and environmental and social undertakings. The jury will pay special attention to projects boosting gender equality by promoting entrepreneurial and innovative women as well as projects contributing to the international competitiveness of the country,  to regional and local development and to poverty reduction.