Message From CLACDS

The Latin American Center for Competitiveness and Sustainable Development of INCAE was established in 1996 to promote changes in public policies, business strategies and civil society actions, which allow the region to obtain higher levels of competitiveness and sustainability in its development

During the first four years of its existence, CLACDS' work focused on the coordination of the process of elaboration and support for implementation of the Central American Agenda for the 21st Century, which represents a long-term strategy of development for Central America and its insertion in the global economy. Since the presentation of this agenda, the Center has continued to support the advancement of the priority areas for the region.

The concrete progress has begun to be seen in numerous research projects which are already in the implementation process and are starting to show important results. This is the case with the "Logistic Corridor," currently an integral part of the Puebla Panama Plan, the new legislation known as CAUCA III, the Central American customers integration iniciative, the approval of the Central American iniciative strategy for governments of the region to reduce vulnerability and natural disasters, the international recognition and implementation of the Sustainable Tourism Certificate, the development of strategies to attract investment from diverse countries, the formulation of competitive strategies for the principal productive sectors of the Central American countries, and the training of multi-disciplinary teams in each country in the areas of competitiveness and sustainability.

The Center has worked closely with the competitiveness initiatives formally established in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama. Outside the Central American region, the Center has worked in Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela, through the development of support projects for high potential clusters in the framework of the Andean Competitiveness Program of the Andean Development Corporation, as well as through other efforts in southern Argentina and the local leaders of Patagonia, Jujuy and Catamarca. Also we have worked with the Competitiveness Inicitaive in Croatia and Thailand

Active promotion and the attainment of financial sustainability are the critical factors to guarantee the continuity of CLACDS and its long-term success. To confront this challenge, the Center has evolved its organizational structure and strategic agenda, established new procedures for project selection, and formalized the task of fundraising, development of systems of diffusion, follow-up and accompaniment in project implementation.

The CLACDS team, with the guidance of its advisory committee, worked to identify the strategic areas in which the Center could make an important contribution, taking into account the knowledge and experience developed in the past, the region's current political and economic agenda, and the importance of countries' medium- and long-term development.

These considerations have led to the identification of five strategic areas for the Center's work: the follow-up on regional and national competitiveness agendas, rural development, the implications of free trade agreements, the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises, and the utilization of digital technology for community development. The work in these five areas combines competitiveness, environmental and social considerations.