Contacts: In Buenos Aires: Yanina Budkin (54-11) 4316-9724 ybudkin@worldbank.org In Washington: Gabriela Aguilar (202) 473-6768 gaguilar@worldbank.org September 25, 2008. Washington, D.C. - The Board of Directors of the World Bank approved today two lending operations totaling $450 million to support the Government of Argentina’s strategy towards increasing rural productivity in the regional economies of the country (areas outside of the Pampas) and supporting the development of a knowledge economy. These loans are expected to accelerate economic growth, which, in turn, will contribute to employment generation, as well as poverty and social inequality reduction. “We are pleased with the approval of these programs which are aligned with the objectives and economic fundamentals of the government’s policies” said Carlos Fernandez, Finance Minister of Argentina. With the approval of these loans, the World Bank has committed some $2.7 billion dollars since 2006 to Argentina and will be considering approximately $650 million in new loans to the country before March 2009. “These projects will contribute to enhance Argentina’s productivity through strengthening the agricultural sector and strengthening the knowledge economy in the country. We are proud to support the country in these areas which are instrumental for inclusive growth” said Pamela Cox, World Bank Vice-president for Latin America and the Caribbean - Second Provincial Agricultural Rural Development Project
The $300 million dollars Second Provincial Agricultural Rural Development Project (PROSAP II) will support investments in public infrastructure and services in rural areas, as well as complementary on-farm and off-farm private investments, in the Regional Economies. All investments will be aligned with the Provincial Agricultural Development Strategies. The specific projects will be designed in each of the participating provinces with the involvement of key public and private sector actors. PROSAP II includes two pilot initiatives: - Regional Development Initiatives, which will increase the competitiveness and commercial growth of selected micro-regions. The initiatives will stimulate public and private sector cooperation, and strengthen production-to-market integration through the development of value chains.
- Innovation Transfer Initiatives. Developed by public-private innovation networks, these initiatives will promote the exchange of agricultural practices that improve the competitiveness and market access of small and medium-size producers. The initiatives will link knowledge institutions to producers.
Around 70.000 small and medium-size producers are expected to benefit from project- activities. This represents more than a third of all small and medium-size producers in the Regional Economies. - Unleashing Productive Innovation Project
The Unleashing Productive Innovation Project for $150 million supports the expansion of Argentina’s capacity to generate productive innovation in knowledge-based areas by creating highly skilled human capital; facilitating the creation of new knowledge-based companies; fostering private–public collaborations in the priority areas of information and communication technologies (ICT), nanotechnology and biotechnology; upgrading research-infrastructure; and strengthening the system’s overall policy framework. INNOVATION CHALLENGES IN ARGENTINA · Expenditures by Argentinean firms in research and development represent 0.14 percent of GDP), while in Brazil (0.36 percent) or Chile (0.3 percent) · Venture capital industry is only $25 million in Argentina compared to $2 billion in Spain · The number of researchers per million inhabitants (768) is less than Chile (823) and much lower than Australia (4098) or Canada (3921) countries who have successfully added value to their natural resource base · The ICT industry projects a possible deficit of 19,000 highly skilled professionals in the sector over the next 5 years. |
The project was designed to help overcome the current challenges in innovation. It uses the World Bank’s innovation knowledge to fill critical gaps in the innovation system according to priorities defined in Argentina’s National Strategic Plan for Science, Technology and Innovation. The National Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation under the policy guidance of the newly created Ministry of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation will implement the project. A more efficient and dynamic innovation system will ultimately result in a more competitive economy and the creation of more productive employment for Argentina. The Unleashing Productive Innovation Project will be supported by a $150 million fixed-spread loan, with a five-year grace period and 30-year maturity, while PROSAP II will be supported by a $300 million fixed-spread loan, fixed-spread with a five-year grace period and 30-year maturity. | 
RSS