Collaborative innovation policies and global alliances for regional competitiveness and sustainable development of SME in the digital Era

The future ahead requires a complete new model; the new economic cycle is important and every country needs to acknowledge this context and that there is an urgent need of global alliances. Especially Latin American and European countries need to take this new order seriously and make it a priority topic in their policy agendas, because there will be no social inclusion, without improving productivity and productive economy diversification. There will be no social inclusion without a vast start-up scene that allows this to happen. There is no social inclusion without global alliances in the new digital era.

Latin America can’t do this alone and needs allies and Europe can be that fundamental ally. If we consider the direct investment indicator, direct investments that Europe has done in Latin America, is one of the highest. And if we have a closer look, these investments are of the highest quality and they respect labour and environment. This represents a good alliances starting point. Latin America can’t live without export markets; neither can it be only a raw material exporter. Therefore global alliances is one of the most important issues for the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.

European governments on the other hand spend an important amount on financial instruments to foster competitiveness of European SME on international markets in order to strengthen regional development. In Latin America, for example, you can find a series of export promotion bodies on a European, national and regional level to support European SME. However, current export promotion strategies and activities are no longer effective for the internationalization of European SME in this digital Era. Collaborative technological innovation projects, that address challenges of Latin American industries, can give European SME access to new markets and new business opportunities. Digitalization and the 4th industrial revolution is one of the most important issues for the European Commission.

Thus, we should focus our work on technological innovation and global alliances to enhance regional competitiveness and sustainable development for both European an Latin American SME, considering the latest technological and digital developments. Economies that will be able to create their future are those that take the important decision to develop technological innovation policies and consider global alliances.