The Ministry of Economy, Development and Tourism held a seminar to present the progress of the Sustainable Productive Development Program (DPS) for 2022-2026. The initiative aims to coordinate state efforts and mobilize public and private resources to foster new industries, strengthen regional capacities, and promote sustainable growth.
During the event at Startuplab.01 de Corfo, Minister of Economy and Energy Álvaro García emphasized the significance of these efforts. “Chile solo podrá crecer de manera sostenible si fortalecemos la inversión, la productividad y la diversificación, incorporando el desarrollo de los territorios y la inclusión de sus habitantes. Para lograrlo, es necesario persistir en el esfuerzo más allá de los ciclos políticos y fortalecer la colaboración entre actores públicos y privados,” said García.
The DPS National Policy was introduced as Chile’s first nationwide strategy designed to coordinate and fund initiatives focused on innovation, sustainability, and technology. This approach addresses structural challenges such as low trend growth, stagnant productivity, and environmental crises while enabling new industries and building territorial capacities.
Between 2023 and 2026, the program has reported CLP 470 billion in public investment with an additional CLP 239 billion leveraged from private sector and academic partners in priority sectors. More than 1,100 companies—80% of which are micro or small businesses—along with 394 scientific teams and 32 universities have benefited through over 210 initiatives.
Argentine economist Dr. Ernesto Stein delivered a keynote address highlighting how policies like DPS involve all actors across the productive chain. He discussed different forms of public sector intervention supporting private industry, noting that those creating positive externalities for the ecosystem tend to be most effective.
“Las intervenciones se justifican cuando hay sectores que tienen potencial competitivo y están enfrentando fallas de mercado, ya sea problemas de coordinación o problemas de externalidades y por eso no se desarrollan. Pero en América Latina, en su mayor parte, las intervenciones verticales han estado motivadas por búsqueda de rentas de sectores privados, con mucha capacidad de lobby y con capacidad de obtener estos beneficios y de ejercer presión; aunque no en Chile, debo decir,” said Stein.
He added: “El programa de DPS me pareció un programa muy bien orientado, es consistente con la visión de políticas de desarrollo productivo que consignamos en un libro del BID hace diez años. Busca atender fallas de mercado, enfatiza la necesidad de diálogo y colaboración público-privada. Enfatiza la necesidad de coordinación al interior del sector público y también la necesidad de construir capacidades en el sector público para poder implementar estas políticas de manera efectiva.”
A strategic panel followed featuring Undersecretary of Economy Javiera Petersen; Magallanes Regional Governor Jorge Flies; former Finance Minister Ignacio Briones; moderated by Corfo Executive Vice President José Miguel Benavente. The discussion centered on conditions needed to consolidate state policy in this area—including fiscal responsibility, interministerial coordination, enabling investment, and strengthening regional capabilities.
The program is designed to drive productive transformation using innovation and technology with a focus on sustainability. Resources are channeled through agencies such as Corfo—which plays a central role—ANID and Sercotec; regional government agreements; as well as various public-private initiatives aimed at closing specific productivity gaps nationwide.
Strategic priorities include just decarbonization processes; resilience against climate crisis impacts; increased sophistication and diversification in production alongside quality employment opportunities; plus fostering an innovative state with enabling capacities.
Coordination is managed by the Interministerial Committee for Sustainable Productive Development created in 2023 under leadership from the Ministry of Economy with participation from ministries including Finance, Mining, Energy, Environment Science—and Corfo’s executive vice presidency. The Executive Secretariat within the Ministry’s DPS Division coordinates implementation among executing bodies while Corfo advances strategic projects in areas such as green hydrogen development lithium economy circularity biotechnology ensuring consistency continuity long-term execution capacity.
