The Federal Republic of Ecuador, which is literally the “Republic of the Equator” is located in the Northwest of South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the East and South, and the Pacific Ocean to the West. It also includes the famous Galápagos Islands in the Pacific, about 1,000 kilometres to the West of the mainland. Indigenous tribes settles in the country over a long period of time, during the 15^th Century it became a part of the Inca Empire and a hundred years later the Spanish started colonization. After achieving independence in 1820 as part of Gran Colombia, it emerged as its own sovereign state in 1830. The legacy of both empires mentioned is reflected in Ecuador’s ethnically diverse population, with most of its more than 15 million inhabitants being mestizos, followed by large minorities of European, Amerindian, and African descendants. The capital city is Quito, while the largest city is Guayaquil.The official language of Ecuador is Spanish, however there are several indigenous languages spoken, e.g. Kichwa.

Ecuador has a developing economy  that is highly dependent on commodities, namely petroleum and agricultural products. It exports petroleum, bananas, cut flowers, shrimp, cacao, coffee, wood and fish. Ecuador has negotiated bilateral treaties with other countries, besides belonging to the Andean Community of Nations, a customs union comprising the countries of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, and it is associated with several other multilateral agencies. Regarding projects, construction makes up about 10 percent of the Ecuador’s GDP and thus drives many projects. The primary investor in the sector is the government with a share of about 80 percent of total investment; the private sector has a 20 percent share. Over the past several years, the sector grew largely due to increased government spending on infrastructure, such as roads, airports and ports. Ecuador is also undergoing a massive change in the energy sector. The country is moving from a heavy reliance on fossil fuels to nearly complete self-sufficiency through renewable energies, particularly hydroelectric power. This drives many projects e.g. the renewal or expansion of the plants “Coca Codo Sinclair”, “Paute-Sopladora”, “Minas San Francisco” and “Toachi-Pilatón”. Finally, the World Bank is also investing quite a significant amount in projects and programmes, e.g. modernization of family farming or a vast number of educational programmes.

Since 2015, the Corporación Ecuatoriana de Dirección de Proyectos (CEDIP)  is member of IPMA, representing the profession in Ecuador. It conducts workshops and seminars together with leading universities in the country, aims at Young Professionals and Students (“Young Crew”) as well as professionals from different sectors. As member of IPMA LATNET it cooperates with neighboring IPMA Associations, e.g. Peru, in order to share experiences and support the development of context-specific know-how. The mission of CEDIP is to contribute to the professional development of project management for partners, stakeholders and professionals under the IPMA standard.