Eurochile opens dialogue on cooperation opportunities with the EU
The Eurochile Business Foundation organized a workshop with the participation of Florian Lütticken, Head of Regional Programmes of Economic Development and Social Cohesion in Latin America at the Directorate General Cooperation and Development EuropeAid, European Commission.
The workshop provided an opportunity for representatives from different business groups in Chile to meet and exchange ideas on future cooperation opportunities with the European Union.
The representative of the European Commission mentioned that they are currently in a process of analysis of how to develop links between former economic development cooperation programs with Latin America and future ones, identifying the following approaches:
-Direct cooperation with non-governmental organizations, private sector, especially in the field of SMEs (small and medium enterprises);
-Reduce the productivity gap between SMEs and large firms (whereas in some European countries SMEs have a 75-80% productivity, in some Latin American countries it doesn't reach 40%);
Another focus point mentioned by the representative of the European Commission was the need to strengthen Latin American SMEs that are not yet exporting but are very active in sectors with comparative advantage, along with promoting different forms of association to make them more competitive.
Chilean entrepreneurs and representatives of various business groups present at this meeting also expressed their concerns about:
-Expanding the network of buyers and consumers of SMEs;
-Improving competitiveness and increase productivity;
-focus more on working with business networks at bi-regional and national level;
-have a more inclusive growth based on: creating value, capturing value and give more sustainability to that value;
- insure a scaling at associative level;
-Improve access to new markets through new technologies.
The workshop ended with Eurochile's commitment to continue informing Chilean business organizations and companies about opportunities to participate in Horizon 2020 (the most important program of research and innovation in the European Union), to make business exchanges with their European counterparts through Enterprise Europe Network and other available tools. Find more information here.
