14th Latin American Cluster Congress at CCC

At the 14th Latin American Cluster Congress, held over two days at the Centro Cultural Córdoba, the Agencia Competitividad Córdoba (Córdoba Competitiveness Agency) presented the provincial government's work to build a shared agenda across the public, private and academic sectors that drives business competitiveness throughout the province.

Under the theme "New clusters for Latin America: driving a greener, more technological and fairer economy" and with the goal of sharing ideas, best practices and new initiatives, the event drew more than 500 professionals, business leaders and policymakers from 15 countries and 12 Argentine provinces.

Agency President Fernando Sibilla spoke on the fifth panel, which addressed new public cluster policies and how successful experiences have been built in Latin America and around the world. He said: "Clusters are a competitiveness tool that connects the public, private and academic sectors to energize the economy and take on future challenges. We are working hard to support their coordination, transformation and growth."

Established this year, the Agencia Competitividad Córdoba aims to drive and connect different sectors and implement new public policies, becoming a key player in the province's strategic, sustainable development, adding value and contributing to the region's productive transformation.

Speaking about the provincial capital, Guillermo Acosta, Secretary of Economy and Finance and president of Córdoba Acelera, the city's development agency, said: "It is unusual for a city to pursue this kind of public policy. Córdoba has its own program, and that is one of the messages we want to send: municipalities can do productive development policy too."

Marco Llinás, Director of ECLAC's Division of Production, Productivity and Management, highlighted the value of clusters in building shared strategic agendas: "They are a very powerful instrument that can be used to turn productive development efforts into results on the ground. Gatherings like this one let us build agendas that many stakeholders work on together."

Córdoba has the resources it needs to expand its industrial, technology and knowledge-based activities, creating quality jobs and improving the quality of life of its people. In recent years it has become one of the region's leading cluster hubs, which is why TCI Network chose it to host CLAC 2023.

"It is a pleasure to be here in Córdoba, to share these two days of the Congress and to see a place so focused on improving competitiveness for people's well-being, and to work together to advance an agenda that, through clusters, becomes greener, more technological and fairer for everyone," said Patricia Valdenebro, CEO of TCI Network, in her presentation.

Over the two days, the Congress brought together international experts from Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, Spain, the United States, Iceland, Italy, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay, along with local leaders from the city and province of Buenos Aires, Mendoza, Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero, Neuquén, Chubut, Tucumán, San Luis, Salta, Catamarca and La Rioja.