CAF renews commitment to development of science, technology and innovation

CAF’s corporate vice president of Strategic Programming, Christian Asinelli, participated in the Science and Technology Week in the city of Buenos Aires. The event was organized by the Argentine Government and was attended by the Secretary General of the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI), Mariano Jabonero and the Ministers of Science, Technology and Innovation, Daniel Filmus and Education, Jaime Perczyk, along with authorities and representatives from academic and research institutes throughout the region.

To strengthen the educational and innovation agenda in Latin America, CAF designed a work plan that provides technical and financial support focused on four strategic areas: improving access to quality schools, increasing the quality of education provided at all levels, bolstering the importance of education in the countries of the region, and encouraging more efficient management.

In this connection, one of the main initiatives implemented by the agency in Argentina is the Entrepreneurial Capacity program. This is an investment project implemented by the Ministry of Science and Technology for a sum of USD 70 million, which enabled infrastructure expansion for research, science and entrepreneurship through the Zero + infinite building, an interdisciplinary space to foster innovation.

The development bank of Latin America also allocated more than USD 25 million for the University Program, aiming to extend and improve the presence of higher education institutions throughout the country. A technical cooperation program for USD 260,000 to support the technological modernization and management of public education administrations at the national and subnational level in Argentina, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay was recently launched.

“As an institution, CAF is committed to the comprehensive development of new generations. We believe in the transformative power of education and we are committed to supporting initiatives that help strengthen its management throughout Latin America and the Caribbean,” said Asinelli.

“In the last ten years, we have prioritized the educational issue in our work agenda in the region, contributing to the expansion of educational coverage at all levels and to improving the quality of services with emphasis on students from low-income households, through to financing and supporting programs for a sum exceeding USD 1 billion,” he concluded.