Friday, July 02, 2010
New businesses, stronger cooperation networks and internationalization of the region in the 5CLAC
The creation of the Latin American Network of Clusters became official in Medellin. After assessing the Conference, the TCI Network will consider the possibility of establishing a Global Cluster Conference in 2012, which would be taking place in a Latin American country.
896 people participated in the Fifth Latin American Cluster Conference- 5CLAC, which closed today in Medellin. The meeting involved 21 speakers from Spain, India, Switzerland, France, Chile, Mexico, Brazil, United States, among others. The topics focused on the specific nature of the policies in the region regarding the Cluster strategy, a matter that Colombia has begun to address seriously. The aim was also to answer questions such as: What is the purpose of innovating? How can new markets be open? How can a company create value and wealth?
According to Jaime Echeverri Chavarriaga, the Conference director, another achievement was the strengthening of relations of the local production industry with the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, as well as the Private Council on Competitiveness; these entities are responsible for promoting and developing models of competitiveness as the one already implemented in Medellin, under the Cluster-based strategy.
"This scenario allowed local businessmen to start to cooperate, compete and do business." Regarding the latter, there was a business forecast of USD4.7 million for the International Business Meeting, held on Monday. It was one of the innovative components since this is the first time the meeting takes place after 5 versions of this Conference. After the meeting, investors and businessmen from Chile and Ecuador stayed in the city visiting some companies in the region; they were interested in doing business related to the local meat and dairy industries.
The 5CLAC was the scenario in which networks of cooperation have been strengthened thanks to the massive and active participation of businessmen, representatives of public entities, academics and other actors responsible for the regional competitiveness issues.
During the 5CLAC the possibility of creating the Latin American Network of Clusters – RedLAC (for the Spanish acronym) was brought into existence. After a year working with institutions in 12 different countries, the work performed by the RedLAC was formalized in Medellin; the aims: internationalization and business generation in Latin America, and the standardization of measurements regarding the impacts of work on clusters. The experiences of Mendoza in Argentina, Chile and Brazil, are the first to contribute in this area.
The Conference ended with the meeting of 22 out of the 30 competitiveness commissions existing in Colombia. The purpose was to gather the experience of the most advanced regions to initiate the transfer of knowledge to those regions where there is still work ahead.
Medellin, a business destination
The celebration of the 5CLAC consolidates Medellin as a destination for business and trade fairs. At the closing event, spokesmen from The Competitiveness Institute - TCI Network, remarked the fact for the first time a Latin American city could host the Global Cluster Conference in 2012. So far this meeting has brought together nearly 600 experts from five continents and has been held in cities like Jyväskylä (Finland), Cape Town (South Africa), and this year it will be in New Delhi (India).
Source: Chamber of Commerce of Medellin for Antioquia
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