He opened the call of the National Development Agency (ANDE) through which projects that promote the joint work of companies for the formation and strengthening of groups, called Business Networks, are co-financed.
This is a program that seeks to bring together companies from the same activity sector, value chain or territory, which decide to collaborate voluntarily, without losing their autonomy, to achieve common goals that would be more difficult to achieve acting individually.
The launch, which was carried out virtually, was attended by the president of ANDE Carmen Sánchez, together with the directors Federico Perdomo and Martín Ambrosi, and the manager of Business Development of the agency Sebastián Ruiz and his team. On the occasion, Carmen Sánchez assured that the experiences of the 2021 call have given good results, so “we are confident in the instrument. Associativity is a way to improve the competitiveness of companies”. For his part, Sebastián Ruiz added that this program seeks to “amplify the individual actions of companies in order to scale them and access more markets.” Then, Mirta Rivas, from the “Los Pinos” Winery, recounted the experience of participating in the program through the “Bodegas de Colonia” project, which seeks to promote Wine Tourism, with the support of the Tourist Association of the Department of Colonia. “We are learning a lot, we have people advising us all the time and we are changing the company.”
The 2021 call supported a total of 47 companies, reaching 326 people who work in the sector. Through the Business Networks program, groups of companies with common needs and problems will be supported, seeking, through collaborative work, to increase their competitiveness, developing projects that incorporate improvements in their management, productivity, sustainability and innovation.
The group of companies (at least 5, and a maximum of 20) must apply through representative institutions, such as Business Associations, Commercial and Industrial Centers, Business Incubators, Startup Accelerators, Development Agencies, Industrial or Scientific Parks. Technological etc
This year there will be two categories: New Networks and Existing Networks.
In the category of New Networks, there will be two types of support: for the formation of the network, 100% of the process will be financed, with a contribution of up to $420,000 per project, with a duration of 4 months; and for the implementation of the network, 80% will be co-financed, with an ANDE contribution of up to $1,400,000 per project, with a duration of 12 months.
In the Existing Networks category, aimed at already established networks, 80% will be co-financed, with a contribution from ANDE of up to $1,400,000 per project, with a duration of 12 months.
The call is made under an open window regime from September 12, 2022 to December 31, 2022, subject to availability of funds.