Uruguayan President Tabare Vasquez (left), along with Uruguayan Industry Minister Jorge Lepra and U.S. Ambassador to Uruguay Frank Baxter, greets U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez during the secretary's visit to Uruguay in October to announce Uruguay's Symposium on Innovation.

An innovation forum to be held in Uruguay next year will build on the successes of the Americas Competitiveness Forum, which was held in Atlanta in June, according to U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, who announced the 2008 innovation symposium during a visit to Uruguay Oct. 8-9.

Mr. Gutierrez and Uruguay Industry Minister Jorge Lepra signed a letter of intent committing the U.S. Commerce Department to working with the Uruguayan government on issues of innovation and competitiveness. The agreement sets the stage for the 2008 forum, Uruguay's Symposium on Innovation, to be held in March or April.

“(The letter of intent) implies, on one hand, a follow-up on the visit of President Bush [to Uruguay in March 2007], and also on the Americas Competitiveness Forum held in Atlanta,” Mr. Gutierrez told a group of American and Uruguayan businesspersons.

Mr. Lepra and U.S. Ambassador to Uruguay Frank Baxter attended the forum in Atlanta and were instrumental in bringing the innovation forum to Uruguay. Mr. Baxter told GlobalAtlanta that Uruguay has the potential to become an innovation center in South America in its educational approach and recruitment of innovative companies.

The Uruguay forum will be administered by the country’s newly created National Research and Innovation Agency, a branch of federal government’s Department of Innovation. Major topics to be discussed include education in innovation for schools and businesses, the development of small- and medium-sized companies and logistics.

“We learned some very good things in Atlanta; the model was very good. So we’ll empower a similar model for the conference in Uruguay, with high-end keynote speakers on education and industry, innovation policy in the region and support for technology and entrepreneurs,” said Miguel Brechner, who serves on the agency’s seven-member board and who also attended the Atlanta forum.

“We want to pick all the good things from Atlanta and take them to the event in Punta del Este [coastal Uruguayan city] in 2008,” he told GlobalAtlanta. He added that the conference is to be held at Punta del Este’s resort and casino, the Conrad Hotel.

Next year’s forum will highlight advancements in innovative technologies and business practices that “reflect long-range planning and the increasing competitiveness of Uruguay,” according to Isidoro Hodara, vice-president of Zonamerica, a high-tech business campus and free trade zone in Montevideo.

Zonamerica is open to investment by Georgia technology companies and can accommodate their technical, administrative and logistical needs, said Mr. Hodara, who also attended the Atlanta forum and will also help plan the Uruguay forum.

In addition to the forum, Uruguay is allocating funds to develop national programs for education in innovation and the development of small enterprise, technology, human capital and leadership, according to Mr. Brechner.

“This government is committed to innovation, technology and privatization. The budget for innovation is eight times bigger under the current administration than in the previous one, so there’s a lot of investment in this area, and so the country is moving forward,” he said.

Uruguay is the first country to implement a One Laptop Per Child program that aims to provide portable computers for each public school child. The project is in an effort to increase the Uruguay’s future competitiveness, said Mr. Brechner, who is also director of the Uruguay Technological Laboratories, a national research institution that brought the laptop program to the country.

The One Laptop Per Child program was originally launched by Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab founder Nicholas Negroponte in 2006. Uruguay agreed in December 2006 to participate in the program and implemented its pilot program this year with 200 computers.

The United States and Uruguay are increasing their economic cooperation. Uruguay recently announced the introduction of its blueberry exports to the U.S. market, and other products are expected to follow, according to Mr. Gutierrez.

The two countries signed a Trade Investment Framework Agreement in January, which is a step toward establishing a full free trade agreement. A bilateral commission is scheduled to meet in November to discuss the terms of this arrangement.

Uruguay-U.S. bilateral trade has more than doubled since 2002, increasing $583 million to $995 million in 2006. U.S. exports to Uruguay grew 131 percent, from $209 million in 2002 to $482 million in 2006. The United States is Uruguay’s third-largest trading partner and the destination for 12.8 percent of Uruguay’s exports. Some 6.8 percent of Uruguay’s imports in 2006 came from the U.S.