Vice Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development of Guatemala visits ECLAC to strengthen cooperation in productive development policies

On Monday, September 23, the Productive and Business Development Division of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) received a visit from Elizabeth Ugalde Miranda, Vice Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development of Guatemala. During the day, cooperation opportunities were explored to strengthen productive development policies in Guatemala, with a focus on technological innovation and social economy linked to MSMEs.

The main objective of the vice minister’s visit was to learn about the best practices and experiences to promote the development of MSMEs by attracting foreign investment, technological innovation and promoting the social and solidarity economy implemented in other countries in the region. “We decided that we have to have a strategy from the State,” said Ugalde, highlighting the importance of having a short, medium and long-term vision, based on the formation of human capital to attract foreign investment, from less sophisticated sectors to the most advanced.

In turn, the director of the Division, Marco Llinás, presented the vice minister with the recent ECLAC publication, “Overview of Productive Development Policies in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2024: How to promote the great productive transformation What does the region require?” A document that offers more than 80 practical recommendations, organized into seven axes of action that seek to guide countries in their productive transformation strategies.

“We are transforming this Vice Ministry with a third unit that is social economy and technological innovation for production, which is precisely what brings us to this visit,” explained the vice minister. The day concluded with the strengthening of cooperation ties between Guatemala and ECLAC, laying the foundations for future collaborations in productive and technological policies aimed at MSMEs.

In addition to the meeting at the ECLAC headquarters, during the week the vice minister will include meetings with representatives of CORFO, SERCOTEC and the Undersecretariat of Economy and Smaller Companies of the Ministry of Economy, Development and Tourism.

These spaces allow the dialogue on technological innovation and support for MSMEs to continue, reinforcing ECLAC’s commitment to promoting productive transformation and productivity growth in Latin America and the Caribbean.