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OAS Secretary General and President of Colombia Inaugurated Americas Competitiveness Forum

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, inaugurated, together with the President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, and the Mayor of Cali, Rodrigo Guerrero, the Sixth Americas Competitiveness Forum, titled "Innovation for Prosperity".

"One of the goals of this forum is that all actors involved in this process - the public, private and academic – find the space they need in order to create the synergies essential to increased competitiveness and innovation for prosperity," said the Secretary General, referring to the central concept of the Forum.

"The programs to promote innovation that have been successfully implemented in the countries of the Americas that were presented in the report ‘Signs of Competitiveness', will be valuable tools to strengthen our capabilities for innovation at the regional level," said the leader of the OAS.

Nevertheless, the Secretary General stressed that there are still challenges in the region in terms of competitiveness, such as the lack of a strong correlation between investment in science, technology and innovation, and the creation in the region of too many "low value-added products and services, with very short innovation cycles."

"We are in a new stage in the world economy," he added, in which the most innovative industries "are those that create more value, also in terms of their intellectual and cultural heritage." In this new environment, he continued, the region "can hardly reach the levels of skills and capabilities needed to insert itself successfully in the global information economy without the design of management systems of intellectual property with global innovation strategies."

In this context, Secretary General Insulza called on Member States to "continue to work together to leverage our complementarities, build greater synergies and to ensure that the current favorable conditions in the region become a platform for not only sustained growth but sustainable growth in the long term, and to a better quality of life for all the people."

For his part, President Santos recalled that when Colombia became the Acting Chair of the Inter-American Competitiveness Network last year in Santo Domingo, "we did so aware that to improve the competitiveness of a country or of a region such as the Americas, is the right path for its economic and social development." "We do not seek competitiveness as an end in itself," he said, "but because we know that this translates into employment, and that competitiveness means well-being and quality of life for Colombian families."

The Colombian president said his country chose the theme of the Sixth Forum because it sees innovation "as the key to increasing business productivity and improving the competitiveness of our countries."

In his conclusion, President Santos said he was convinced that "in Colombia and in Latin America - in America in general – the conditions are ripe for us to make big bets and assume risks in the collective purpose of being an innovative region, an increasingly developed region." He noted that "it is here and now, when despite any fears we may have of losing, the hope of winning must unite us now more than ever, and I'm sure that if we all play with that mentality, we will all win."

The mayor of Cali, Rodrigo Guerrero, described his city as a leader in innovation, particularly in the urban space, "understanding that quality of life is not only a great ultimate goal of governance, but also a key lever competitiveness." He referred to the salsa dance tradition in the region as an example of "the extraordinary cultural heritage of Cali", which "must also be a pillar of competitiveness and the generation of collective welfare."

The Sixth Americas Competitiveness Forum will run until Friday, October 26, and primarily aims to facilitate the development of business and enable the exchange of ideas and knowledge to make the countries of the Americas more innovative, productive and competitive, and thus to improve the living standards of its inhabitants.

The Forum was held previously in Atlanta (United States) in 2007, 2008 and 2010, in Santiago de Chile in 2009 and in the Dominican Republic in 2011.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-387/12