A delegation of Central Macedonia (Greece) carried out a three-day study visit to the region of La Libertad (Peru) between July 19-21, 2023. During the study visit, the delegates had to opportunity to learn about La Libertad’s tourism and agricultural development strategies, as well as its regional innovation ecosystem and policies to support small and micro enterprises. The region of Central Macedonia was represented by Mrs. Maria Goulaptsi, Head of the Innovation Support Department of the Region of Macedonia and Mrs. Paschalina Mavroudi, Scientific Collaborator of the same organization.
On the first day, the Governor of La Libertad, Mr. César Acuña, welcomed the delegation of Central Macedonia and highlighted the importance of international cooperation, mutual learning, and business opportunities in the agricultural sector. The meeting was followed by presentations of key managers of the Regional Government, who gave an overview of La Libertad and its strategic sectors and projects, including Chavimochic and “Siembra & Cosecha” (Planting and Harvesting).
During the three days, the delegation of Central Macedonia also held meetings with key actors and programmes supporting La Libertad innovation ecosystem, such as CREEAS (Regional Committee of State, Business, Academia, and Organised Civil Society) and Footwear CITE (Productive Innovation and Technology Transfer Centres). The delegation also aimed for creating new connections with La Libertad’s agricultural sector, and thus, had meetings with CERX La Libertad (Regional Exporting Committee) and ADAS (Association for Sustainable Agricultural Development), which represents the most important agro-exporting companies in the region. Finally, the delegation learned about Tourism Development programmes through the Regional Committee for Tourism and Crafts, which was followed by visits to some of La Libertad main tourist attractions, such as the archaeological sites of Chan Chan and Huacas de Moche.
The regions are expected to continue their cooperation in agricultural development and connect companies working on cold & frozen chain technologies applied to sustainable agri-food transportation and circular economy for logistics and packaging. The regions also wish to exchange knowledge on tourism development strategies and branding.
The study of La Libertad constituted the final study visit organized by IURC Latin America. The programme wishes to thank Mrs. Angelica Villanueva (Regional Manager for Exports and Tourism of La Libertad) and her team for their commendable work in organizing the visit.
The IURC programme constitutes the second phase of the International Urban Cooperation (IUC, 2016-2020) programme and aims to lead and develop a form of decentralised international urban and regional cooperation in the fields of sustainable urban development and regional innovation. The programme supports pairings between cities and regions in the European Union with their counterparts in six Latin American countries: Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Argentina and Chile. In total, the IURC Latin America network of cities and regions consists of 24 cities and 20 regions.
IURC Latin America, GORE La Libertad and Central Macedonia’s delegation with Mr. César Acuña, Governor of La Libertad
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July 25th, 2023
