Countries in Latin America are engaging in regional cooperation in order to improve science, technology and innovation in their countries. Various initiatives have formed, and countries at all levels of development are able to participate. The Latin American Cooperation of Advanced Networks (CLARA), one such initiative, is composed of 17 countries. CLARA has formed 20 health research communities in food technology, biotechnology, nanotechnology, and information and communication technology. Jorge Huete, founding president of the Academy of Sciences of Nicaragua, says these various initiatives demonstrate that greater cooperation among developing countries with the lowest science and technology progress is possible. “South-South cooperation is generally less expensive and provides access to experiences extrapolated or applied to contexts similar in terms of geography, culture or level of development,” he said. Author Francisco Sagasti, who wrote “Science, Technology and Innovation. Policies for Latin America”, encouraged the region to stop being “the region of lost opportunities.” “No other region of the developing world shows a similar set of possibilities to Latin America,” he said.
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