With the firm conviction that there is much to improve and that they have not yet exploited all the potential they have as a department, the Government of Valle del Cauca, under the leadership of Dilian Francisca Toro, has been advancing an ambitious plan for innovation and economic development with which they are connecting investors. with entrepreneurs, to bring forward ideas that their people have and become an example of strength.
This task is in the hands of the Secretary of Economic Development and Competitiveness, Óscar Eduardo Vivas Astudillo, who in a chat with Portafolio said that they know where they are and the challenges left by the social outbreak, but that they fully trust that their local talent has all the potential to overcome them and thanks to this they are the stage for major events such as COP16 that will take place at the end of October.
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How is the economy of the Valley?
The department has a particularity and that is that it has been dragging along circumstances that happened very recently, which was the pandemic and the social outbreak. We cannot forget that Valle del Cauca was hit particularly hard and there were blockades not only in the capital of Valle del Cauca but in different municipalities, completely paralyzing commercial and industrial activity.
This led us to have a huge gap and economic problems, which required additional efforts beyond those in the departmental and municipal development plans, otherwise the situation would have been much more complex. Because of this, we entered with a large debt and we have macroeconomic conditions where the priority is to regain the confidence of investors.
Valle del Cauca, department in southwestern Colombia.
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What consequences did this bring?
For example, in the housing sector there is a drop in sales and it is also beginning to affect the tax areas. The same thing happens with vehicles, although here it is already beginning to recover, but not before leaving an effect on the collection, and people even spend less, as is the case with liquor and there is another impact on the collection. That is why Governor Dilian Francisca has asked us to optimize every peso.
Based on this, we are taking a chance by being creative and investing in initiatives that, for example, strengthen job creation. There is a huge stake in infrastructure and in establishing alliances, how we attract investors, how we make everyone join together so that public resources are optimized. Although there is a downturn, our work has been to ensure that this does not affect development.
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How are they achieving this?
We began by planning and assimilating that the Cauca Valley must have an economic development policy that not only addresses the needs of today, but also provides the capabilities to face the challenges of tomorrow and here we have different programs such as technology and innovation, which are extremely important to us.
We want to see growth beyond the short term and allow us to disrupt market creation in the long term. Through the strategy of the NIDO program, which is the flagship of Governor Dilian Francisca Toro, we are creating the business environment conditions so that entrepreneurs and technology-based companies can be created, grow and expand from the Valle del Cauca, generating employment.
Óscar Eduardo Vivas Astudillo, Secretary of Economic Development and Competitiveness of Valle del Cauca.
Courtesy – API
How does NIDO work?
With this commitment, we basically create a service in the areas of incubation, acceleration and scaling of entrepreneurships. We also have a very strong and constant relationship with investors so that these initiatives or startups can grow faster, betting on open innovation where corporations are showing needs or challenges and through local talent, we are responsible for solving them.
In fact, we are now launching the AgriFood Challenge, which consists of three challenges focused on agriculture and the food chain, taking into account that there is potential in sustainable development that can be exploited, so that in this way we can also encourage the creation of formal employment. Here alone, 5,200 young people have benefited.
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How are you overcoming informality?
In the labor market we are in double digits, and here precisely there is a very important bet, and it is to understand that it is ironic that we are in double digits, that we see people in the street who need employment, but we also have companies that need human talent, and here we see a structural problem of information asymmetry.
That is why we have another program here called VallEmplea, which basically allows us to have a permanent and real-time dialogue with the business and productive sector, to understand what they need, and in turn to be able to train young people with relevant and reinforced education in aspects such as bilingualism and strengthening mental health.
Will they develop an agro-industrial vocation?
Yes, the answer is yes. We would like it to happen more and faster, because that is where we see the difference, and that is why right now we are focused on generating trust among the private sector and showing all the strength we have here. We have had a constant dialogue, we have joined together for different programs, but not only with companies, but also with mayors, with Chambers of Commerce and with other actors in the ecosystem, seeking to generate peace of mind in the legal-political aspect, which is one of the things that makes investors think twice.
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Likewise, through Invest Pacific, which is our investment promotion agency, we are already working with companies from different sectors in Cali and Valle del Cauca. But we are also demonstrating that tech talent can be created and grow from Valle del Cauca and we have already begun to have victories, such as a startup that raised USD $1 million in investment, which will surely become employment and development.
Ready for COP16?
Of course, in fact, on October 25, in collaboration with Invest Pacific, we will hold a green business forum and we want to invite all entrepreneurs from Colombia to participate, since the objective is to connect them with entrepreneurs from all over the world interested in knowing the potential of the Cauca Valley.
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