Mariana Mazzucato meets President Boric in Santiago, Chile

On Friday 28 October 2022, Professor Mazzucato was invited to La Moneda, the President’s official office, to discuss with President Boric Chile’s economic challenges and opportunities around a wide range of topics, such as lithium extraction and the creation of new green markets, including green hydrogen. She was joined at the meeting by Professor Joseph Stiglitz of Colombia University and Jose Miguel Benavente, head of Corporación de Fomento de la Producción de Chile (CORFO), Chile’s development agency. 

One day earlier, Professor Mazzucato presented her new ECLAC report, Transformational Change in Latin America and the Caribbean: a mission-oriented approach, to some of the country’s key ministers, including Minister of Environment Maisa Rojas, Minister of Transport Juan Carlos Muñoz Abogabir, and Minister of Health Ximena Aguilera. The group had a constructive conversation about the importance and relevance of a mission-oriented approach to Chile, including the opportunities of leveraging new outcomes-oriented tools and institutions and directing more investment into public sector capabilities. 

In Professor Mazzucato’s private meetings with Marcel and Grau, Chile’s new Sustainable Productive Development Programme was a key agenda item. The programme intends to redirect almost $200 million in public investment collected through lithium mining royalties towards the country’s green transition. Professor Mazzucato emphasised the need for intelligent coordination between the relevant ministries. 

A key highlight of the time in Santiago was the interactive session at the Laboratorio de Gobierno, the Chilean government’s public sector innovation lab. In coordination with Heidi Berner, the Secretary of Modernization, the Laboratorio team offered an exciting overview of their current projects, including the Public Innovation Index, which measures the capacity to innovate and seeks to help the Chilean State adapt to the changing contexts, needs and expectations of citizens. The work that the Laboratorio de Gobierno is doing on this index is closely related to IIPP’s work around dynamic capabilities and the two entities hope to learn from each other about this topic. After the session, Professor Mazzucato praised the lab for offering an excellent example of what the Entrepreneurial State looks like in practice. 

This marks the official end of Professor Mazzucato’s trip to Latin America, during which she met with the presidents of Colombia, Argentina, and Chile, launched her new ECLAC report, and presented it to key cabinet ministers in Bogota and Santiago. She was joined on the trip by two IIPP colleagues, Luca Kühn von Burgsdorff, her Policy Advisor, and Manuel Maldonado, Policy Designer. 

For more information

New Missions for Latin America – Professor Mazzucato explains more about the ECLAC report in this article for Project Syndicate.  

The full ECLAC/CEPAL report is available online: -  

• Transformational change in Latin America and the Caribbean: A mission-oriented approach – in English  
• Cambio transformacional en América Latina y el Caribe: un enfoque de política orientada por misiones – in Spanish 

A recording of the report launch is available on YouTube: -  

• English 
• Spanish