The IAPT community is reinforced with the integration of the productive poles of Brazil

1. Brazil has a long history of promoting productive development through territorial productive articulation initiatives. ECLAC followed the experience of the Arranjos Productivos Locais very closely. Do the Poles insert themselves into this path and enhance this experience through the generation of Integration Rotas?

A: Yes, the National Integration Routes are Local Productive Arranjos articulated in a network, on a regional scale. They seek to strengthen territorial governance in the Poles so that they can map challenges and share common solutions with other poles in the same sector. Many Poles have a history of synergy with other public regional development policies, such as the Brazilian Observatory of Local Productive Arranjos and the broad set of policies to support and develop micro and small businesses.

2. Could you tell us what the Rotas are and how they fit into the industrialization and regionalization strategy that the Government has launched?

A: The Rotas are networks of Local Productive Arranjos associated with strategic productive chains capable of promoting productive inclusion and sustainable development in Brazilian regions prioritized by the National Regional Development Policy – PNDR. The current cycle of Brazilian industrial policy, called New Industry Brazil (NIB), has a set of missions and instruments that address central and structuring challenges for the development of the industrial sector represented by a series of productive chains present in practically the entire national territory. . In the governance of the NIB there is a specific working group called the Working Group for the Coordination of Territorialization and Regional Development Actions, with the participation of 17 entities representing the federal government, state governments and public development banks, which discuss how to address the regionalization of industrial policy in line not only with the PNDR but with other national, federal, regional and state policies and instruments.

In this way, the Routes and their Poles are important vectors to meet specific demands of strategic sectors in priority territories, seeking the local implementation of public policy instruments for their development and, consequently, seeking to reduce the great regional inequalities that exist in Brazil. .

3. ECLAC has given life to the Community of Productive and Territorial Articulation Initiatives (IAPT), which today brings together more than 370 experiences from a dozen countries in the region. The objective is to enhance these initiatives by stimulating the exchange of good practices and promoting the generation of joint actions and regional strategies on topics such as digitalization and the circular economy. Now that the Poles have joined the IAPT Community, what do you expect from the Community? In what way can the Community contribute to the development and consolidation of the Poles?

A: See how interesting, both digitalization and the circular economy are prioritized topics in the missions of the new industrial policy and treated transversally between the Poles of the Integration Routes, since there is a specific Circular Economy Route that deals with of the topic as a business opportunity and sustainable development.

For this reason, we see with great expectation the entry of the Poles to the ECLAC platform as a new field that opens to participate in joint actions to know, discuss and mainly share experiences, solutions, innovative technologies and even markets for the sectors that They cover the Integration Routes.

4. On the other hand, how do you imagine that the Poles should participate in the work of the Community? What could be the main contribution of the Poles and the Integration Rotas to the work carried out by the IAPT Community?

A: We could, for example, share the experience of how the Poles have participated in actions to integrate public policies for regional, industrial and sustainable development, in various spheres of government. There are a number of success stories that we could also share, for example, in how the collection, treatment, industrialization and export of waste is organized. In addition to the Poles’ own planning methodology, which is based on simple and accessible tools so that local producers can present their challenges and build action plans to overcome them, generating base documents to monitor the development of the Poles and Routes.

5. An action is already scheduled on the agenda of the IAPT Community to support the training of the coordinators of these collaborative initiatives. Also, as ECLAC, we are committed to the development of the circular economy as an important part of the strategies of these collaborative initiatives and to the implementation of a regional action plan to strengthen digital economy clusters. To what extent do these lines of action coincide with those proposed by the Secretariat of Integration and Regional Development for the strengthening of the Poles? If you had to propose an additional activity in our joint work for 2025, what would you suggest?

A: The entry of the Poles to the ECLAC platform, as I said previously, opens a series of real and concrete possibilities for their development, since the rotas can participate in events and missions related to transversal themes, such as those you mention, digitalization and circular economy.

I believe that the more practical the training and experience-sharing activities are, the greater the interest and commitment in participation and collaboration. But it is not enough to arouse interest and promote participation, the contents presented and discussed must be accompanied by a kind of guide for its replication and that those who participated in its creation and implementation must be available for consultation and advice in a mentoring model, allowing expand the potential for effective dissemination of solutions and good practices among productive initiatives and arrangements throughout the territory covered by ECLAC.