This article was translated by John R. Bopp
We found this news item on the “Bolivia in Your Hands” website. The regional office of the ILO for Latin America and the Caribbean has just presented a study titled “Policies of Clustering and Productive Development in the Basque Autonomous Community: Lessons for Latin America and the Caribbean”.
This report reviews the history of the definition and successful execution of productive development and cluster policies in the Basque Autonomous Community (BAC), in order to take out from it the lessons Latin America needs to increase its growth and to generate quality work. The report was written by the Regional Director of the ILO for Latin America and the Caribbean, José Manuel Salazar, and by Ricardo Monge, professor and director of the CAATEC Foundation in Costa Rica.
Reading the notes the ILO presents this report with reminded us of the crisis years of the 1980s. At that time, the Basque Government, which had just been reconstituted after the end of the dictatorship, set up, against the clock, policies to help Basque companies survive while also laying the groundwork to guarantee an industrial future for our country.
It also reminded us of the words of the Spanish Socialists who, when they saw the work done by the Basque Government, said that the “best industrial policy is one that doesn’t exist.” This claim, which seems born of the mind of Milton Friedman, was made by Carlos Solchaga, the Minister for Industry under the Felipe González government.
It also reminded us of so, so many Spanish nationalist politicians who have dedicated so many years to denying the proof and ensuring that the political leaders of all Basque governments (except, of course, the one born of the “state of emergency” that was led by Socialist Patxi López) are only ever seen as thinking of sovereignty, and never worrying about the citizens or their needs. They claimed this, of course, to defend the interests of a State that was corrupt and that had an economy that was ever more dependent on speculation or the least productive sectors.
The industrial policies carried out by the institutions of the BAC are long-term, and have had undeniable success (just like the policies of urban transformation, infrastructure, education, linguistics, R&D, and culture). It’s been so great that it’s become an example and a role model for sovereign countries founded 200 years ago.
We’ll leave you with the reference to the Bolivian article and the original ILO report (in Spanish)
Bolivia en Tus Manos – 23/9/2016 – Bolivia
OIT pone políticas industriales del País Vasco como modelo para Latinoamérica
La Organización Internacional del Trabajo (OIT) puso las políticas industriales de fomento del desarrollo productivo y de los clústeres en el País Vasco (España) como un modelo a seguir por las economías de Latinoamérica para diversificar su producción y no depender de las exportaciones de materias primas. Un estudio difundido hoy en Lima por la oficina de la OIT para América Latina y el Caribe titulado “Políticas de clústeres y de desarrollo productivo en la Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco”, destacó que la “exitosa experiencia” de Euskadi ofrece importantes respuestas y lecciones para la región latinoamericana.
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OIT – 22/9/2016 – Latinoamérica y Caribe
Políticas de desarrollo productivo: lecciones para América Latina
Un nuevo estudio difundido hoy por la Oficina Regional de la OIT revisa la historia sobre la definición y ejecución exitosa de políticas de desarrollo productivo y de clústeres en la Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco (CAPV), con el fin de extraer lecciones para América Latina que necesita elevar el crecimiento y generar trabajo decente. La publicación sobre “Políticas de clústeres y de desarrollo productivo en la Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco” fue realizada por el Director Regional de la OIT para América Latina y el Caribe, José Manuel Salazar, y por Ricardo Monge, catedrático y director de la Fundación CAATEC en Costa Rica.
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Document:
Políticas de clústeres y de desarrollo productivo en la Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco. Lecciones para América Latina y el Caribe. (Serie Informes Técnicos, 3)
Descargar (PDF, 1.1200000000000001MB)
The ILO has published a “success case study” on the Economy of the Basque Autonomous Community to be used in Latin America and the Caribbean
Basque economy, image of the Basques, international projection, Basque Government, UN, Americas
Last Updated on Dec 20, 2020 by About Basque Country
