SANTIAGO 2019: PROMPERU MISSION – INNOVATION ON AGROINDUSTRY

Last August, Promperu Agribusiness Innovation Mission in Santiago de Chile was carried out, with the support of Peru’s Promperu in Chile and Softpower Consulting. With the participation of INKA PRIME, through its Sales Representative, and other 10 companies of different categories. Among them, the agro-export of superfoods and vegetables, cultivation and commercialization, science, technology and social innovation. During this Mission we visited Start-up Chile. This organization was created by Chilean government in order to diversify its economy and create a climate of entrepreneurship. This seed accelerator and innovation program encourages entrepreneurs from across the globe to start new businesses in Chile.

The objective of the Mission was to learn from the good practices of other companies in Santiago, recognized as one of the main entrepreneurial hubs in the region. Beyond this, it also deepened in the ecosystem that accompanies them. If you talk about innovation in Chile, you talk about its clusters, and among them, the superfoods cluster, where not only large and small companies interact, but public, academic and community organizations. This interaction is what generates entrepreneurial and creative solutions. Nowadays, Chile is facing serious health problems leading to major health reforms. Therefore, Chile has been investing in the food industry, providing the tools for companies to come up with innovative products that would not represent a major cultural shift but a smooth transition to a new life style.

Nevertheless, Chile needs to import some of the key superfoods requiered to expand product line and keep being competitive in market. That is why, Chile is an ideal country for this Innovation Mission to take place. With an overall score of 36.64 in the Global Innovation Index (out of a maximum of 100), Chile was ranked as one of the most innovative economies in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2019, obtaining the 51st position out of a total of 129 countries. The South American nation has been improving its ranking position since 2015, when it occupied the 42nd place in the global ranking.

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