US$80,000 for competitiveness projects in Colombia

The Andean Development Corporation (CAF) will grant almost $80,000 in non-reimbursable funds to the Colombian government under two technical cooperation agreements signed by the CAF president, Enrique García, and the Colombian Foreign Trade Minister, Jorge Humberto Botero.

The CAF representative in Colombia, Luis Palau, said the agreements were arranged under the framework of the Andean Competitiveness Program (PAC) which the Corporation has been promoting since 1999 in the five countries of the Andean Community, with the collaboration of Andean research institutes and representatives of government and the private sector. "This year we began the second stage of the program, which concentrates on promoting and developing clusters, improving the business climate, strengthening institutions and developing the capacity for innovation and productive research in Andean countries," Palau said.

The Foreign Trade minister said the funds are divided between two projects, with $39,900 for the Virtual Space for Productivity Program and $38,900 for the Virtual Course for Creation of Companies with Technological Base.

The Projects

The Program for the Virtual Space for Productivity, Strengthening and Linkage of the Colombia Network of Productivity Centers fosters the design, development and implementation of an Internet application and an information system to facilitate joint work and exchange of information between all the sectors in Colombia involved in productivity.

With this system, the Colombian business community and economic sectors will be able to obtain information through the Internet on bidding processes, results of national studies, business diagnosis surveys, statistical information and productive chains, and other subjects. Users will also have tools to measure productivity and exchange indicators of business productivity.

The Virtual Space project is valued at $55,538, of which the CAF is cofinancing over 50%. The remainder comes from the resources of the Network of Productivity Centers.

The Virtual Course for Innovation and Creation of Companies with Technological Base aims to strengthen the entrepreneurial capacity of basic science, engineering and economics students with a view to forming export-oriented companies that produce goods and services with a high technological content and a strong emphasis on competitive performance.

The course is divided into three modules: business fundamentals, business management, and preparation and execution of business plans, which are offered in three periods.

With the amount granted today, the CAF has provided total cofinancing of $50,000, including a contribution of $11,000 in technical cooperation for preparation of content and execution for the first period in 2000. The Foreign Trade Ministry is contributing roughly $70,000 for the second and third periods.

So far, 77 university institutions have signed a “meeting of minds” with the Foreign Trade Ministry; 1,109 students have enrolled in the first promotion and 2,225 students in the second in the 21 cities around the country where the Program is being offered.