The highest authority of ECLAC in Santiago participated in the third version of the Chile-European Union Forum, focused on innovation as a driver of development and inclusion. The event, organized by the Foundation Euroamérica, took place on July the 21 and 22th and included the presence of President Michelle Bachelet with some ministers, and representatives of international organizations and the private sector.
In the activity, Bárcena said that Latin America must invest in innovation to raise productivity and generate better jobs, while boosting economic dynamism and social inclusion. "Social inclusion and economic dynamism must not be at odds, and innovation can be a key link. But nothing should arrive only to the richest layer, we need to reach everyone”, stressed the Executive Secretary of CEPAL.
Today, Latin America invests only about 0.8 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) per year in research and development (R & D), and most of these resources come from the public sector, while in the European Union that rate reaches to nearly 2 percent, with a greater participation of the business sector through public-private partnerships. In this context, Alicia Bárcena committed to promoting an industrial policy focused not only in manufacturing but also in the digital economy, allowing so dependent diversify the exports of raw materials, which in 2013 reached 41.3 percent.
According to figures from 2009 for 18 countries in Latin America, the most productive business layer generates 66.9 percent of regional GDP, but only 19.8 percent of employment, while the less productive employ 50 percent of workers and generate 10 percent of GDP. This disparity in the contribution of each sector to the product and employment also results in a very unequal income distribution of workers.
