Chile: A Country Promoting ClustersPublished: July 09, 2009
The cluster initiative aims to identify and promote the strengths of various productive sectors and increase the competitiveness of Chilean companies, thereby energizing regional economies through innovation.
The National Cluster Policy, implemented by President Bachelet's government, has played an important role in increasing the competitive advantages of important sectors such as mining, agro-industry, global services, and special interest tourism.
Andrés González, Corporate Manager of the Chilean Economic Development Agency (CORFO), which coordinates the National Cluster Program, stated that "the objective of this policy is to increase the competitiveness of groups of companies which form part of the same value chain; these are companies whose businesses are related because they provide services to one another, and/or have businesses that complement one another."
There are eight productive sectors in which the country has great competitive advantages: aquaculture, global services, special interest tourism, swine and poultry farming, fruit growing, copper mining, processed foods, and financial services. Of these sectors, only five are being developed as specialized clusters.
In Chile's regions, which are one of the main focuses of the clusters, there are two programs working to implement this policy. The first is the National Cluster Program, which is aimed at dealing with transversal issues at a national level. The second is the program for the Regional Productive Development Agencies (ARPD), which works to promote regional potential and organize clusters locally.
The ARPD's were created nearly three years ago and work to promote clusters through the Competitiveness Improvement Programs (PMC). These are run by public-private councils and include the participation of different professional associations, academies, technological institutions, ministries, and other public services.
Room for SMEs
Andrés González, Corporate Manager of CORFO, states that "the benefits, for companies forming any part of the value chains, relate to increased competitiveness to respond to the ever-increasing demands of the globalized market."
González recognizes that "the National Cluster Program is not solely focused on small and medium-sized enterprises because the value chains can be made up of companies of any size." He believes that "small and medium-sized enterprises play an important role within the five prioritized sectors, because they not only include manufacturers, but also suppliers, distributers, and service providers, among others. They all form part of these value chains."
Last year, the Spanish company, Grupo Konecta came to Chile within the context of the Global Services Cluster (offshoring), implemented by CORFO. They chose Chile as a platform for their technological investments, in order to provide services to the European market, mainly Spain and the United Kingdom.
Carlos Álvarez, CORFO´s Executive Vice President, called on national SMEs to follow the example of Grupo Konecta. "The arrival of foreign enterprises has shown us how smaller companies who dare to be innovative can grow quickly.
We know that there are also SMEs here which are opening themselves up to the global market from the beginning. This is a good example to follow," he explained.
The next possible challenge could be the creation of commercial alliances between small businesses, and the formation of a cluster just for SME's.
Source:www.diariopyme.com