ECLAC presents at the opening of an international internship in Chile aimed at representatives of the Regional Development Agencies of Peru

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) participated, this Monday, January 23, in the opening session of an international internship in Chile, aimed at representatives of national and regional entities that are part of public sector institutions , private, academia and civil society of the Regional Development Agencies of Peru, an instance that was organized within the framework of the project “Identification, awareness and incidence for the consolidation of the Regional Development Agencies (ARD) in Peru”, executed by the Latin American Center for Rural Development (RIMISP), with the support and financing of the European Union and the German government.

In this context, the main objective of this activity is to promote spaces for technical exchange that provide feedback on the experience of the ARDs in Peru between actors in the ecosystem of productive development and innovation in Chile and the participants of the internship.

In the instance, the Economic Affairs Officer of ECLAC’s Productive and Business Development Division, Marco Dini, spoke about productive development, competitiveness and innovation in Chile, delivering a series of considerations on governance models of regional productive policies .

The ECLAC representative began by talking about the successes and limits of the institutional framework for productive development in Chile. Regarding the former, he referred to the fact that in Chile the institutions linked to this matter are characterized by being solid, recognized and with territorial roots, in addition to having extensive accumulated experience in the management of productive development programs and guaranteeing a certain degree of continuity of these projects.

Within the limitations of the Chilean institutionality linked to productive development, disadvantages can be found such as a logic of work by instrument, excessive fragmentation, scarce practice of inter-institutional work, and strong centralization.

On this last point, Dini explained that the current scenario of productive development in Chile, at the institutional level, is characterized by a strong concentration of resources at the national level and by marked differences between regions.

In this regard, ECLAC proposes a multi-stakeholder and multi-level coordination approach that allows for the strengthening of local and regional governments, for the design and implementation of regional productive development strategies, programs and projects.

An important milestone in the process of regionalization of productive development policies in Chile has been the election of regional governors. In this regard, regional governments can strengthen multilevel coordination, based on establishing regional strategic priorities, formulating regional productive policies, generating regional programs and projects for productive development, and strengthening communal offices for productive development.

The entry into the institutional scenario of the new governors promotes a transformation of the support system for productive development that has to be developed along two simultaneous axes of action: the strengthening of the capacities of the GORES and the modification of the current operating model. of the national institutions of productive development.

The strengthening of multilevel coordination allows the functions of each of the actors involved to be recognized and a dialogue is generated that values ​​the respective capacities and experiences, strengthening collaboration and the development of synergies.

This process implies a change in the power relations between the institutions, specifically in a transformation of the regional governments, which in Chile have been consolidating as a leading actor in regional productive development policies, from the popular election of the Governors. In the case of the national government, it must increasingly focus on support activities for the regions most in need, monitoring of good national and international experiences, dissemination of good practices, training of new professional skills, experimentation with new work methodologies, among others. others.

Within the framework of this process, it may be useful to reason about the formation of regional entities that have the capacity to implement regional productive development policies, within the framework of the strategies and policies that have been regionally prioritized under the leadership of the regional government.

In order to generate transformations that are projected beyond political cycles (public and private), and that have the flexibility to adapt to changes in context and learn from practical experiences, these entities should be projected over time and enjoy stability in their resources. and professional plant.

Meanwhile, the internship organized by RIMISP, in which other Chilean institutions linked to productive development such as CORFO, the Ministry of Economy and SERCOTEC will also participate, will last four days, from Monday 23 to Thursday 26 January and will generate collective reflections and technical exchanges, in order to articulate inter-institutional experiences in the field of promotion, development and productive innovation in Chile.