The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), in collaboration with the Secretariat for the Organization of American States (OAS), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Peruvian National Council for Science and Technology (CONCYTEC), organized the seminar “Financing and Priorities in Science and Technology in Latin America and the Caribbean”, held in Lima, on November 10, 2004.

Participants included authorities and officials of multilateral organizations, governments, private sector and civil society organizations, among which were the Prime Minister of Peru; the Minister of Finance of Peru; the Minister of Science and Technology of Costa Rica; the Vice-Minister of Economy of Chile; the Vice-Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology of the Dominican Republic; the Secretary of Economic Policy of Argentina; and the Secretary General of the Andean Community of Nations.

IANAS was also present at the meeting, being represented by Hernan Chaimovich. During the presentations, IANAS was recognized as an important new actor for the incorporation of Science in regional activities. The factual impact of local scientific development for economic growth and social development, an issue raised by IANAS during discussions, was widely commented during the seminar. Finally it was generally recognized that continuous economic growth and social development requires innovation in the production chain and the parallel investment in education and science.

Further details of the meeting and the full list of participants can be found at http://www.science.oas.org/Ministerial/ingles/cpo_act.asp.

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