Driving inclusive innovation for micro, small and medium enterprises in Bolivia

December 16, 2025

Micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) generate nearly 70% of employment and contribute 25% to Bolivia’s GDP, yet they face persistent challenges such as informality, limited access to financing, and constrained innovation capacity. Addressing these gaps is critical to unlocking inclusive and resilient growth opportunities for MSMEs.

As part of UNDP Seoul Policy Centre (USPC)’s SDG Partnership with Bolivia on supporting MSMEs through innovation, USPC and UNDP Bolivia co-hosted a learning exchange webinar titled, “Innovation in Action: Lessons from the Korean Ecosystem for the Development of Venture Studios in Bolivia”. The event brought together key partners from both countries, including the Banco de Desarrollo Productivo (BDP; Productive Development Bank of Bolivia), the Seoul Center for Creative Economy and Innovation (SCCEI), and leading Korean impact investor, Impact Square.

Launched in 2024 with support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea (ROK), the SDG Partnership with Bolivia aims to foster innovation and digital transformation for MSMEs by sharing relevant tools and practices from the ROK. Since its inception, Bolivia has taken steps to design its first Venture Studio and Venture Capital Fund models to accelerate MSME development in priority sectors such as coffee and cacao.

Image credit: UNDP Bolivia

"Together with partners from Korea and Bolivia, we will explore practical lessons that can help refine Bolivia’s Venture Studio and Venture Capital models, accelerating inclusive growth and progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals."

Anne Juepner, Director, UNDP Seoul Policy Centre

Bolivia’s innovation model

Carlos Del Castillo from BDP and Francisco Roman from UNDP Bolivia/BDP presented the three pillars of the SDG Partnership programme:

Market Intelligence platform that enables MSMEs to access market data and actionable insights for informed decision-making;
Venture Studio model that provides structured incubation support to MSMEs, from ideation to growth;
Venture Capital mechanism that facilitates financing for early-stage enterprises.

BDP also highlighted Bolivia’s strategic focus on six high-value-added sectors, coffee, cacao, wine, cheese, leather, and textiles, as part of efforts to strengthen competitiveness and position Bolivia as a country of excellence in these priority sectors.

“Together with BDP, we have worked to adapt Korean tools to the Bolivian context, with a special focus on women and young entrepreneurs. This cooperation with Korea is strategic because it connects us with real, proven, and highly scalable models… this exchange allows us to take our joint work to the next level and build a Bolivian innovation model that is inclusive and impact-driven.”

Marta Vallejo, Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP Bolivia

Lessons from the Korean innovation ecosystem

Young June Kim from SCCEI shared the ROK’s experience in building one of the world’s most dynamic start-up ecosystem through cross-sector collaboration. He explained how Centers for Creative Economy and Innovation (CCEIs) act as hubs connecting start-ups with large corporations through programmes such as open innovation. The open innovation programme facilitates partnerships based on current and future business needs, providing proof-of-concept funding while managing risks and impact. SCCEI highlighted the relevance of these approaches for Bolivia’s evolving Venture Studio and MSME support systems.

Jaewon Jeong from Impact Square presented their experience in supporting Korea’s impact ecosystem, and highlighted insights that could be adapted to Bolivia’s landscape:

Blended finance approaches that combine public capital with private capital for growth and risk mitigation;
Public-private partnerships that bring together government, corporates, start-ups, public institutions and other stakeholders;
Impact measurement systems that track both financial and non-financial outcomes to enable sustainable and resilient ecosystem development.

Discussions and next steps

The session concluded with a discussion on the role of public incentives in catalysing early-stage innovation; considerations for identifying priority sectors for venture growth in Bolivia; and potential pathways to adapt Korean collaboration models such as open innovation programmes that connect early-stage enterprises with established firms, to Bolivia’s agricultural and high-value-added industries.