Jointly organised by the OECD LEED Programme and the Andean Development Corporation (CAF) with the support of the National Ministry of Planning (DNP) of Colombia
 

Tuesday 16 September 2008

 

Venue
Universidad de los Andes
Bogota, Colombia
 

 

Background / Conference / Programme / Contacts

 

 

Background

Today, the importance of people’s empowerment and the role of local authorities in ensuring an integrated economic and social development are recognised among academia and in the policy making worldwide. Colombia has proven to have lots to share in the fields of local economic development and social inclusion. Indeed, Colombia's experience can contribute to the identification of the essential factors of success for an efficient policy delivery drawing from the successful practices recently implemented in various major cities. 

Over the past few years, Colombia has successfully undergone a decentralisation process. The urgent need now is to strengthen the capacities of the regions, stimulating local economic and employment development in order to enhance the competitiveness and productivity of the municipalities and regions.  The National Ministry of Planning (DNP) is hosting this event as the entity responsible for the regulation and coordination of economic development policies in the country. 

With the support of the national government, the Colombian local authorities are playing a key role in facilitating the emergence of prosperity and in combating inequality and poverty at local level.  In 2008, the 32 regions and 1101 municipalities defined their development plans 2008-2011 which were launched in June 2008.  The majority of the government programmes that preceded these plans and their content have included objectives and strategies aiming at creating local environments that provide institutional development and socio-economic capacities. The current plans are not the exception, and the city of Bogotá is the perfect place to discuss and exchange ideas on the essential elements necessary to achieve a long-term economic and social prosperity at local level, led by an effective public administration and a comprehensive strategy.

 

Conference

This conference is jointly organised by the OECD LEED Programme and the Andean Development Corporation (CAF), a full member of LEED.  This event aims at facilitating a platform to discuss the importance of efficiency and effectiveness of public policies as means to local economic development and social inclusion.  This will be a unique opportunity for representatives of cities and regions from OECD and Latin American countries to share their experience in defining, implementing and delivering policies within an economic development strategy, based on the experience of the city of Bogotá, Colombia, and cities in other Latin American and OECD countries.

Moreover, the event seeks to complement and reinforce the activities of the OECD LEED Programme and the CAF to spread a culture of exchange and evaluation of local development initiatives in the Latin American region.  This event will also present the main findings of LEED’s recent publication on “Investment Strategies and Financial Tools for Local Development”, which has been translated into Spanish by the CAF.

 

Programme

The programme combines the experience of top-level officials and the expertise of practitioners in the field of local economic development.  Confirmed personalities include President Alvaro Uribe (Colombia), President Enrique García (CAF) and Deputy Secretary-General Pier Carlo Padoan (OECD). The agenda of the event is accessible here.

 

500 participants from Colombia, Latin American, Caribbean and OECD countries are invited to participate in this international conference. Representatives of the following groups will take part in the discussions:

• Colombian authorities at national, regional and local levels;
• National, regional and local authorities from Latin American and OECD countries;
• International organisations and networks of experts; 
• Practitioners, academics and experts on local economic development;
• The business community, chambers of commerce, development agencies, investment agencies, and universities.

Please note that only previously registered participants will be allowed to take part in the conference. Registration is closed.

 

Contacts

For more information on this conference, please contact Gabriela Miranda from the OECD Secretariat.