20/05/2026
Talent Up Program Supports Belize’s National Digital Strategy Actions
The Belize Trade and Investment Development Service (BELTRAIDE), in collaboration with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Google Cloud, together with key national stakeholders, hosted the Talent Up Belize Operational Workshop: Ecosystem Establishment.
Talent Up, an initiative of the IDB’s "America en el Centro" regional program, provides over 60,000 digital-skills scholarships in Central America, focuses on training students in high-demand skills including Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Data Analytics, addressing the shortage of qualified professional and supporting the transition toward a more digital economy. "Talent Up – América en el Centro represents a strategic regional response and a national investment in Belize’s future competitiveness, innovation capacity, and participation in the global digital economy. By design, this initiative bridges structural skill gaps in a way that is articulated, scalable, and directly linked to Belize’s national development agenda" stated Fernando Ocampo, América en el Centro Coordinador.
Today’s event marked the beginning of Belize’s Talent Up implementation roadmap over the following months, and brought together representatives from government, the private sector, academia, and development organizations.
Delivering keynote remarks, Prime Minister Hon. John Briceño described Talent Up Belize as a “remarkable and exciting programme for strengthening Belize’s talent ecosystem,” emphasizing that “the countries that will succeed in this new era are those that invest not only in infrastructure and technology, but in people.” Under this context, Talent Up supports that effort by helping build the digital skills needed for the sector’s next stage of growth.
Highlighting the importance of the initiative, BELTRAIDE’s Chair, Narda Garcia, stated, “As we continue advancing Belize’s digital transformation agenda, workforce readiness and innovation capacity will become increasingly important, not only for economic growth, but also for investment attraction and national resilience.”
The workshop also featured presentations on regional best practices, including Jamaica’s experience in transforming its Global Services Sector through digital skills development. IDB Country Representative, Karla Gonzalez, emphasized that “under the Talent Up framework, we are elevating Belize’s BPO sector to higher-value services, completely reshaping its economic landscape.”
“Sustainable transformation can only happen through collaboration, coordination, and shared responsibility. The Government of Belize remains committed to investing in its people and ensuring the country is prepared to seize the opportunities of an increasingly digital global economy”, underscored Prime Minister Briceño in closing remarks.
