Chile-Finland Platform: VTT, Corfo and Fundación Chile develop intense work schedule with strategic productive sectors
The organizations met with the main bodies of the mining and forestry industry, among them, ENAMI, Antofagasta Minerals, Anglo American, CMPC, Arauco and Corma.
The Executive Vice President of the Production Development Corporation (Corfo), José Miguel Benavente, participated in an intense schedule of work meetings in Santiago with companies and representatives of the country's strategic productive sectors, such as mining and the forestry industry, thereby initiating the implementation of the "Chile-Finland Platform for Development and Technological Transfer", promoted by Corfo and Business Finland, and executed by Fundación Chile and the Technical Research Center of Finland (VTT).
The activities began on Wednesday, January 7, within the framework of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Fundación Chile, in which Kalle Härkki, president and CEO of VTT, was the main speaker and, in addition to highlighting the positive impact expected from this binational alliance, shared the keys to Finland's successful development process, the most innovative advances, and the challenges currently facing the country.
Among other aspects, Härkki highlighted the importance of international cooperation in science and technology, constant renewal as a driver of economic growth, and the strategic role of alliances like the Chile-Finland Platform in facing future challenges of sustainable development and innovation.
During the ceremony, a collaboration agreement was also signed between the Chile Foundation and SOFOFA, establishing a framework for cooperation to promote technological innovation, industrial decarbonization, circular economy, bioeconomy, and the strengthening of environmental Monitoring, Reporting and Verification.
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Mining Sector Meetings
During the afternoon, Benavente and Härkki -along with Jussi Manninen, Executive Vice President of Carbon Neutrality at VTT, and Hernán Araneda, General Manager of Fundación Chile- met with René Aguilar, Vice President of Strategy and Innovation at Antofagasta Minerals (AMSA). During the meeting, they discussed the main technological challenges associated with expansion and sustainability projects in mining (such as electrification and efficiency in the processing of low-grade minerals), which now constitute the focus of R&D investments and open up collaboration opportunities with suppliers.
"This platform allows us to move from cooperation to concrete action, linking companies, technology centers, and startups from both countries to face key productive and environmental challenges, with solutions that generate economic value and sustainable development in strategic areas for the country," said José Miguel Benavente, Executive Vice President of Corfo.
On Thursday, meanwhile, an important meeting was held in the morning with representatives from the National Mining Company (Enami), led by its Executive Vice President, Iván Mlynarz, since this company will play a key role in the technological development initiatives that the Chile - Finland Platform carries out with medium-scale mining in Chile.
In this context, the importance of systematically addressing the technological, productive and sustainability challenges of small and medium-sized mining was emphasized, as well as the participation of ENAMI in the governance of the mining vertical of the Platform, contributing to the definition of priorities, coordination of actors and alignment with the country's productive development objectives.
At noon, the representatives of Corfo, Fundación Chile, and VTT visited the Integrated Operations Center (CIO) of Anglo American, which allows for remote operational control and highly automated processes at the Los Bronces mine, and held a meeting with Patricio Hidalgo, CEO of Angloamerican Chile; Juan Pablo Schaeffer, VP Corporate Affairs; Diego Sierpe, Principal Socio-Economic Development Americas Anglo American, where they discussed the current investment priorities in R&D and the challenges associated with tailings and large mining waste, in addition to the potential for some initiatives through the binational platform.
FORESTRAL SECTOR MEETINGS
Finally, on the same Thursday afternoon, a meeting was held with the two most relevant companies in terms of forest production in Chile: Arauco, represented by its CEO Cristian Infante and Charles Kimber, Manager of Sustainability; and CMPC, represented by Augusto Robert, VP of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability, and Jorge Valdivieso, Manager of New Business. Along with them were Rodrigo O'Ryan (president) and Patricio Toledo (councilor) from the Wood Corporation (Corma), a trade association group that brings together producers and suppliers from the sector.
On the occasion, challenges and opportunities of the sector were addressed, the collaboration experience of Chile-Finland that companies of the sector have had was shared, and went on to explore areas of innovation with the potential to energize business ecosystems and entrepreneurs in both countries. As a result of the dialogue, the establishment of a working group aimed at developing a joint road map was agreed.
This would allow for the identification of specific challenges for small and medium-sized enterprises in the sector and mobilize the entire ecosystem around the Platform, promoting innovation initiatives, collaboration, and technological development with an impact on competitiveness, sustainability, and productive development of the country.
"This platform expresses a form of work oriented towards innovation and productive development that Fundación Chile knows well: starting from real challenges of strategic sectors, articulating public and private capabilities, and converting advanced knowledge into solutions that can scale. This alliance allows us to accelerate this process, connecting mining, forestry and other sectors with technologies, talent and innovation models that have already demonstrated impact. Our role is to ensure that this transfer occurs with a focus on productivity, sustainability and the creation of new opportunities for businesses, suppliers, and scientific-technological ventures in Chile," said Hernán Araneda, CEO of Fundación Chile.
Binational Alliance Chile - Finland
The "Chile-Finland Platform for Development and Technological Transfer" seeks to boost local capacities for the development, adaptation, and scaling of high-impact technologies for decarbonization and climate change adaptation. This includes driving co-creation and co-innovation efforts among companies and strategic productive sectors, regional governments, technology transfer centers, and other relevant actors in Chile's ecosystem, and companies and R&D institutions in Finland, mobilizing talent and promoting scientifically and technologically-based entrepreneurship.
In principle, this alliance will last for five years and will be financed with an initial contribution of US$20 million from Corfo, through the R&D contribution of lithium contracts, and with leveraged resources from the Finnish ecosystem and other national and international sources, to complete an estimated total budget of US$50 million.