CAF initiates productivity program in Venezuela

(Caracas, December 16, 1988).- As part of a program to increase productivity and technological updating in industrial companies of the Andean area, CAF started (Thursday 15) a course for consultants with the participation of 27 Venezuelan specialists with extensive knowledge of the areas of productivity, quality and technological-organizational advances.

In September this year, CAF - financial arm of the Andean Group formed by Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela - established the first agreement in the framework of this program. On this occasion, non-reimbursable funds of US$35,000 were granted to FIM-Productivity. Because of the quality of its contributions in the public-private area, this institution meets the requirements for executing a project of the size of the CAF productivity program.

The seminar, which was held in the offices of Electricidad de Caracas, brought together representatives from various disciplines and areas of the country to discuss the content of the "Manual for Consultants on Productivity and Quality," recently prepared by FIM-Productivity. Engineer Iván Garmendia, president of the institution, said it was "the first text of this type adapted to the needs of the subregion, which has incorporated the latest international experiences."

This seminar and preparation of the manual initiates the first of several stages of the CAF program, which include multiplying the offer of productivity services in response to growing demand from companies; strengthening existing regional and sectoral centers of productivity and supporting their creation; updating and increasing information in technological-organizational areas and bringing in higher education institutions to train high-level personnel in this sector.

At the end of the seminar productivity programs will be introduced in ten companies selected as "pilot experience." "Their success, Garmendia said, will lead to mass dissemination of the use of new approaches and tools throughout the business sector of the country and the Andean subregion."

CAF productivity advisor Martín Oropeza said the experiences which the Corporation is developing in Venezuela would be used in all Andean countries. "Integration is very important for building bridges to link innovation in this field. In many cases, the problems of an industry can be resolved with the help of others in the region, either because they have had a similar experience or because they are experts in this area." Finally, he said CAF’s objective is to achieve a high level of international competitiveness of a significant group of products and services which a country generates by integrating productivity and quality as fundamental variables of our development process."