AL- INVEST Verde Agri-food: Experts and stakeholders from Italy and Chile connect to exchange information at Promos Italia and Eurochile Business Foundation workshop
On 20 July, the webinar “Italian agri-food green technologies for the Chilean market” was held, a virtual instance that allowed the exchange of knowledge between Italian and Chilean counterparts, enriching the perspective of the agri-food market in both countries.
In May of this year, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Eurochile Business Foundation, the AL-INVEST Verde programme was launched. Eurochile, together with its European partners Promos of Italy and Agropolis International of France, are implementing the project “Chilean-European Alliance for the green transition in MSMEs in the Chilean fruit sector and their Business Organisations“, which aims to help small and medium-sized enterprises to adopt sustainable and circular practices in their agri-food systems.
Eurochile’s Sustainability and Circular Economy team is responsible for its implementation and has been responsible for carrying out multiple activities and workshops aimed at MSMEs and business organisations in the Chilean agricultural sector, initiatives that have been developed in the regions of O`Higgins, Biobío and Los Lagos.
In this regard, the webinar “Italian agri-food green technologies for the Chilean market” was held on 20 July, an event organised by Promos Italia, aimed at MSMEs in the fruit sector and their business organisations with the objective of moving towards more sustainable and circular agri-food systems.
During the event, which brought together Chilean and European experts and production companies, Ivonne Palma and Rodrigo Silva, both representatives of the area of Sustainability and Circular Economy of Eurochile, presented their work. Ivonne, director of the area, presented the main functions of the Eurochile Business Foundation, as well as the services of the Enterprise Europe Network and the business rounds in which the Foundation participates.
On the other hand, Rodrigo, project manager, presented the progress of the programme, the current parameters of Chile regarding agriculture, and the benefits of moving towards a circular economy, as well as adhering to a more sustainable and environmentally friendly system. In addition, European companies had the opportunity to share with their Chilean counterparts, presenting the work of each of them and exploring the possibility of generating synergies and establishing connections between both parties.
Among the participating Italian companies are Tecnoagri, specialised in technologies for fruit growing; Bertoni Greentech, dedicated to sustainable spraying; Infia packaging, noted for ensuring the circular economy and sustainability in the sector; Alegra responsible for direct experience in production and Roboqbo, focused on the processing of products.
On the other hand, they also presented their Chilean counterparts, such as the Association Gremial Agrololol A.G., from the commune of Lolol, O’Higgins Region, the Cooperative of cherry producers, CERECOOP, from Los Lagos Region and the Blueberry Producers of the Clean Production Agreement of Los Ángeles, Biobío Region, who are part of a Blueberry Committee of ASOEX, Chilean Exporters Association.
In this way, the face-to-face and virtual activities that have been developed based on the programme have allowed the main actors to participate and internalise this initiative, share and exchange information with their European counterparts and, at the same time, have the help of experts to guide and train them on the benefits of the transition to a more circular model in the Chilean fruit sector.