Historic Budget to Support Innovation in ChilePublished: February 03, 2009
Of those projects supported, 66% are from the regions, with figures amounting to US$ 51.8 million*. Initiatives related to the Food, Aquaculture, Mining and Special Interest Tourism clusters. This year, it is estimated that investment in innovation projects supported by CORFO will exceed US$ 92.6 million.
With a historic budget increase to US$ 78.1 million, 27% higher than the previous year, the Chilean Economic Development Agency-CORFO released its Overview 2008, through its department of innovation promotion "InnovaChile".
Initiatives related to clusters prioritized by the National Council of Innovation for Competitiveness were allocated 60% of the resources. The focus was on projects related to the food cluster (27%), the aquaculture cluster (13%), the mining cluster (13%) and tourism (6%). This involved conducting 5 Innovation Program Sessions associated with the Fruit, Food, Mining and Special Interest Tourism clusters, as well as Business Platforms for Innovation. The total investment amounted to US$ 46 million, destined for 135 innovation initiatives.
Attending the meeting were Minister of Economy, Hugo Lavados; Undersecretary of Economy, Jean-Jacques Duhart; Undersecretary of Finance, Maria Olivia Recart; President of the Confederation of Production and Trade (CPC), Rafael Guilisasti; Executive Vice-President (CEO) of CORFO, Carlos Álvarez, and the Executive Director of InnovaChile Claudio Maggi, together with business and academic figures and entrepreneurs.
The Ministry of Economy indicated that, "innovation accelerates growth and this is expressed in the work of the government to support and promote business innovation, helping companies to access knowledge and cutting edge technologies."
The Executive Director of InnovaChile, Claudio Maggi, said that during 2008 the agency directly supported 3,861 innovators. Some 2,840 of these were related with businesses, whilst the others were from universities and research centres. In addition to this, support was provided to 14,000 MSMEs via the Technology Nodes - a promotion and technology transfer network for innovative projects.
InnovaChile funded 916 initiatives via its various channels of support. Some 66% of the projects were developed in regions, for a total of US$ 52.6 million, which reinforces the trend of decentralization of investment.
More than US$ 93 million to be invested during 2009According to information provided by CORFO, it is estimated that investment in innovation projects supported by InnovaChile will reach US$ 93.4 million this year. Joint public-private investment in 2008 totalled US$ 151 million, which indicated a 9% increase in private investment over the previous year. In 2009, this joint total is expected to reach US$ 213 million.
In addition to the existing innovation programs, there are two important initiatives for the aquaculture cluster. One is especially for R & D to improve the quality of sanitary conditions for salmon, and another is a special program to diversify aquaculture.
Another important development is the establishment of Centres of International Excellence for Competitiveness in Chile. These centres will complement the National System for Innovation and help overcome gaps in terms of scientific and technological capabilities not available locally.
The Executive Vice-President of CORFO concluded, "We hope that our contribution will help to expand opportunities and improve the quality of life of all Chileans. We must continue with the commitment to make innovation a systemic and continuous task for the development to which we aspire."
*(exchange rate as of 26/1/09 - $US 1 = CLP 616 / www.bcentral.cl)