Organized by the Chamber of Commerce of Medellin for Antioquia and Medellin City Hall, the 5CLAC was a forum for strengthening cooperation networks and exchanging experiences, methodologies and results on competitiveness, economic development and cluster management - thanks to the active and considerable participation of actors responsible for fostering regional competitiveness from private, public sector and academia. Business matching event, workshops, decentralized forums and World Café sessions helped participants to answer questions such as what for is innovation useful, how to open to new markets, how a company creates value and wealth, etc. Five excellent Cluster Tours (Textile/Design, Energy, Construction, Tourism and Health), made it possible for participants to understand the transformation of Medellin and the cluster strategy of this "Cluster City".
Presentations are already available for TCI members at TCI website. Other conferences material can be found at www.clusterlatinoamerica2010.com.
For Jaime Echeverri, Vice President of Planning and Development at the Chamber of Commerce of Medellin for Antioquia and Chairman of 5CLAC, "the conference was the perfect place to cooperate, compete and do business". In fact, there was a forecast of 4.7 million USD generated at the business matching event held on Monday 21st, one of the most innovative elements of the 5CLAC. After the meeting, investors and entrepreneurs from Chile and Ecuador even stayed in the city visiting companies in the region interested in doing business related to local industries in the meat and dairy sectors.
Strengthening the links between local clusters in Medellin and the Colombian Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, as well as the Private Council on Competitiveness, both responsible for promoting and developing cluster-based competitiveness models in Colombia, was another positive result of 5CLAC. The conference ended with the meeting of the Colombian Regional Commissions on Competitiveness, in which 22 of the 30 existing commissions participated. The aim was to gather the experiences of more advanced regions in order to initiate the transfer of knowledge among them.
5CLAC also helped in fostering RedLAC - Latin American Cluster Network. After a year working with institutions from 12 countries, RedLAC focused its orientation on internationalization and business creation in Latin America and measurement of the impact of cluster work. Experiences from Mendoza in Argentina, Chile and Brazil are the first to contribute in that area.
TCI representatives are extremely glad with the results of 5CLAC. For President Alberto Pezzi "this event is another proof that the methodology of cluster-based regional development and promotion of competitiveness is being widely accepted throughout the world, and Latin America is not just a spectator in this phenomenon but rather one of the main actors. This part of the world represents one of the regions where this methodology is being applied most dynamically and enthusiastically, and with an increasing number of positive results."
Next year, 6CLAC will take place in the beautiful city of Ouro Preto, in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Lina Volpini, Market Access and International Affairs Manager at Sebrae MG, presented the venue and invited participants to meet there again on 23-27 May 2011. More information about the conference at www.clusterlatinoamerica2011.com
25 June 2010
