The Superintendence of Industry and Commerce (SIC), represented by its Superintendent, Dr. Cielo Rusinque, and by Dr. Augusto Múnera, Adviser and Coordinator of the International Affairs Working Group, took part from May 19 to 20, 2026, in the High-Level Regional Conference "Innovation and Intellectual Property for Productive Development and Sustainable Growth in Latin America and the Caribbean," held in Santiago, Chile. The Ambassador of Colombia to Chile, Sebastián Camilo Guanumen Parra, also accompanied the delegation at the event.

The event, organized by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the European Patent Office (EPO), and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), brought together authorities and experts from the region to address intellectual property policies as productive development policies, support for science, technology, and innovation, financing for IP, and regional approaches to innovation, technology, and patents.

During the conference, the joint ECLAC-EPO study was presented, and a dialogue was held with young inventors from the region, featuring the participation of Colombian innovator Mariana Pérez, who in 2025 was recognized by the European Patent Office as one of the ten innovators of the Young Inventors Prize ("Tomorrow Shapers"), an award that acknowledged her contribution to environmental sustainability and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, through a system that captures air pollutants and transforms them into biodegradable materials.

Within the framework of the conference, the SIC held a bilateral meeting with ECLAC aimed at building a strategic alliance between the two institutions to strengthen institutional capacities, promote regulatory modernization, advance digital transformation, and consolidate a regional cooperation agenda aligned with the challenges of the digital economy and sustainable development. The meeting included the participation of Marco Llinás, Director of the Productive and Business Development Division of ECLAC; Edwin Javier Ramírez, Economic Affairs Officer at ECLAC; Nicoló Gligo, from the Productive and Business Development Division of ECLAC; and Julián Páez Vargas, Counsellor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the Embassy of Colombia in Chile.

Through this participation, the SIC strengthens its regional positioning in innovation and intellectual property and reaffirms Colombia's commitment to sustainable productive development and technical cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean