Before the 29^th IPMA World Congress we had the chance of visiting Guatemala. In this blogpost I´d like to provide some insights regarding the country as well as projects and project management. Guatemala is situated in Central America between Mexico and Belize in the North and Honduras and El Salvador in the Southeast.

The country reaches out to the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. It has a rich Maya heritage, lasting from 3000 BC until 900 AD, when the Maya culture finally collapsed. In the 16^th Century the region was conquered by the Spanish (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guatemala). In the year of 1847 it gained independence and turned into a republic.

The geographical situation of Guatemala has great impacts, such as hurricanes, earthquakes caused by tectonic plates meeting right in the place and several volcanoes, which are still quite active. A volcano eruption caused the country also to move the government from the ancient Antigua to the new capital of Guatemala City. Guatemala is one of the poorest countries in Latin America and faces many social challenges. The CIA World Fact Book considers more than 50% of the total population of Guatemala to be living in poverty. Main economic activities are agriculture, services such as tourism, Call Centers and Business Process Outsourcing as well as industries including but not limited to textiles, steel, construction and infrastructure.

Besides the traditional construction and infrastructure projects, Guatemala is focusing more on energy provision. It provides energy for neighbouring countries generated through traditional coal, gas and oil as well as a divers set of renewables like water, wind and solar power. Furthermore, there are many social projects conducted  to help the poorest and the indigenous people living in Guatemala.

IPMA is represented in Guatemala since 2010 by the national association “IPMA Guatemala”. It has more than 100 members in Guatemala and close connections to several Universities in the country. This is also the reason, why IPMA Guatemala is having a very active Young Crew, which regularly meets for experience exchanges and workshops. IPMA Guatemala is part of LATNET, which comprises of 15 Associations in the region and reaching out on project management. IPMA Guatemala invites annually for a project management conference. This year´s event together with an association of entrepreneurs gathered more than 150 people. This shows the interest of the people of Guatemala in learning more about the concept of “Managing by projects”, moving economy and society forward through projects and competent project managers.