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rom left to right, Director of the Atlantic Council Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center Peter Schechter, President of the Inter-American Development Bank Luis Alberto Moreno, and Founder and CEO of Agora Partnerships Ben Powell. (Photo Credit: Juan Felipe Celia)

After the end of a 50-year-old conflict in Colombia, the country is now partaking in a historical peace process. With it, new business development opportunities have emerged. To address some of these prospects, Luis Alberto Moreno, President of the Inter-American Development Bank, and Ben Powell Founder and CEO of Agora Partnerships participated in a film screening and panel discussion, The Disruptors: Reimagining Business in Latin America, on Monday, July 11, 2016 at the Atlantic Council headquarters in Washington, DC.

Following Peter Schechter’s welcome, Brigit Helms, manager of the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) at the Inter-American Development Bank gave her set of opening remarks addressing the MIFs accomplishments. These accomplishments include working together with startup businesses, like Laboratoria, through ensuring that they help certify companies who will have a large impact on the economy, society and environment. Following her remarks, the 10-minute film, The Disruptors: Reimagining Business in Latin America, was played. This film followed the journey of, Agrupa, a company who seeks to lend a hand to mom-and-pop shops in rural areas of Colombia, revealed the hope that small businesses bring to communities within the country, and presented the efforts Agora Partnerships has put forward to help these up an coming entrepreneurs of the world.

To address these feelings of hope and to mark the official launch of a tree-year-collaboration between the IDB and Agora Partnerships, Peter Schechter moderated a panel discussion addressing questions like: what are the needs for the country in terms of money and efforts? What can the IDB do to help? Is Latin America in crisis a region of opportunity for Entrepreneurship? And how is the younger generations taking part in leading this entrepreneurial phenomenon?