Libro Blanco Vol I en Ingles

TOWARDS A NATIONAL INNOVATION STRATEGY FOR COMPETITIVENESSVOLUME 1BOX 3EXPLOIT THE ADVANTAGES FOR GROWTHIn “From Natural resources to the Knowledge Economy:Trade and Job Quality”, the World Bank highlights that a greathistorical error made by Latin American countries is to turn theirback on their natural advantages, whatever they may be: awealth of natural resources, location, natural beauties orculture. It also states that this attitude is, to a great extent, aresult of prejudice about the supposed superiority ofmanufacturing activities with respect to those based on naturalresources.The analysis of the World Bank firmly indicates thatactivities based on natural resources can be knowledgeintensiveindustries and, as such, have the capacity to fostergrowth over a long period of time. It provides various examplesto support this claim.Firstly, it indicates that undeniably Australia, Canada,United States, Finland and Sweden based their development ontheir natural resources. In fact, even today they are netexporters of products based on this type of resources, togetherwith high technology products.It indicates, for example, that the evidence availabletoday definitively shows that the industrial success of the UnitedStates is due to a progressive transition towards naturalresource-intensive manufacturing sectors and only shifted tomore knowledge intensive sectors in a much later stage of itsdevelopment. It states that mining was the “collective learningphenomenon” that led to the creation of a strong technologicalsystem, which later evolved into the modern manufacturingsector.52It mentions that Canada was the country that inspired the“theory of basic products”, in which the exports of primarygoods leads to long-term development through demand orsupply links.In the case of Australia, the development of theproduction of wool and the extraordinary and continuoussuccess of mining, in addition to industries derived from both,made it one of the richest economies in the world at thebeginning of the twentieth century. Today, the discovery of newdeposits and the creation and export of knowledge linked tomining –based on a large-scale educational and researchinfrastructure– could once again raise it towards the top of thelist.The Scandinavian nations that manufacture planes, luxuryautomobiles, famous designer furniture and, more recently,advanced telecommunication products, also started growingslowly based on their natural resources. Sweden’s Volvo andSaab arose, partly, as a result of production linkages from theforestry sector. Perhaps the most interesting case is the Finnishcompany Nokia. It was originally a producer of wood pulp, andhas become a key player in the global cellular phone market.The key elements of this evolution –according to the WorldBank– were the institutional structures, the knowledge networksand a committed human capital policy that, although created tosupport the processing of resources, was transferable to hightechnology sectors.In summary, the historical data are eloquent: when wellmanaged and inserted within an appropriate institutionalframework, natural resources can be engines of development.