With the support of The EU-LAC Foundation and The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) a total of fourteen competitive clusters from Latin America and the Caribbean participated in the "EU-CELAC Cluster Matchmaking Event" held on the 12th June in the margins of the World Exhibition in Milan.
The event allowed European, Latin American and Caribbean entrepreneurs to debate relevant aspects in a business-to -business environment of industry sectors related to the theme of the Expo: “Feeding the Planet: Energy for Life”.
The inclusion of clusters from Latin America and the Caribbean in the discussion and analysis of new forms of creativity and innovation within the Agro-foods sector, so important for both the EU and Latin American and Caribbean regions, was, according to the EU-LAC Foundation and IDB, a valuable follow-up of 2015 EU-CELAC Business Summit.
Synergies were found between the EU-LAC Foundation-IDB's initiative and the one simultaneously organised by the European Commission, which attracted about 27 EU clusters to Milan, enabling thus the presentation of joint proposals for areas of discussion and identification of types of support that could contribute to reach agreements between competitive clusters in both regions.
In general, clusters from Latin America and the Caribbean requested technical guidance to improve processes and products, more concrete information on European markets and financial support.
The “EU-CELAC Cluster Matchmaking Event” received positive critics by its protagonists. This raises a two-fold challenge: to search for opportunities for similar meetings and to lend continuity to the emerging network established by the competitive clusters present in the meeting in Milan.
