December 20, 2022.- Hungary offers high-quality education with a safe and friendly living environment in the heart of Europe. Hungary is also among the top countries with the highest number of scientific Nobel laureates per capita and numerous scientific inventions, from vitamin C to the Rubik’s cube.

Therefore, we are pleased to present the 2023/2024 call for the Hungarian Government scholarship program within the framework of the Pacific Alliance. Eight scholarships will be awarded, two for each member country, to carry out studies in this country. The call will be open until January 16, 2023.

The Student and Academic Mobility Platform of the Pacific Alliance, which purpose is to contribute to the formation of human capital in the four countries, offers the possibility of carrying out bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral studies or non-graduate programs (preparation and specialization courses) on issues related to agriculture, land management, wildlife, among other related issues.

The studies will be carried out in person at one of the 28 Higher Education Institutions that participate in the Hungarian Stipendium Hungaricum Program. The minimum required documents must be entered into the online system set up by the Hungarian government no later than January 16 at 23:59 (Central European Time).

The call for applications and the annexes can be found on the official page: https://stipendiumhungaricum.hu/apply/

The online application system can be accessed here: https://apply.stipendiumhungaricum.hu/

The Application guide for candidates can be found on the following website:

https://stipendiumhungaricum.hu/uploads/2020/03/Application-Guide-for-the-Stipendium-Hungaricum-Programme_2023_24.pdf

The scholarships include academic costs, lodging, medical insurance; in addition, a monthly maintenance in Hungarian national currency will be granted. It is important to clarify that the scholarship does not include tickets to and from the countries of origin of the selected people, who must cover their international air ticket.

CHECK HERE FOR THE BASES OF THE CALL

March 23th, 2023.- From March 15th to 17th, the fifth meeting of the Pacific Alliance Network of National Fisheries and Aquaculture Research Institutions (IIPA-AP Network) was held at the headquarters of the Marine and Coastal Research Institute “José Benito Vives de Andréeis” (INVEMAR), located in the city of Santa Marta, Colombia. This network includes the Instituto de Fomento Pesquero (IFOP), Chile; INVEMAR, Colombia; the Instituto del Mar del Perú (IMARPE); and the Instituto Nacional de Pesca de México (INAPESCA). Also participate as observers the National Institute for Fisheries Research and Development of Argentina (INIDEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The meeting was organized by IFOP (Chile), with support from INVEMAR (Colombia), and was attended by the Directors of both institutions, Mr. Gonzalo Pereira Puchy (IFOP) and Mr. Francisco Arias Isaza (INVEMAR). Also attending were the focal points of each institution and different invited researchers.

The objective of this meeting was to prepare a Work Plan for the period 2023-2024, based on the priority topics defined by the institutions in a previous meeting held in September 2022, which include the Ecosystem Approach, Biodiversity and Climate Change related to fisheries and aquaculture.

During the first day of work, each institution presented the lines of research it is developing, highlighting the progress made, and existing gaps and identifying opportunities for collaboration between institutions. On the second day, opportunities for collaboration were jointly identified and activities were defined to be included in the Work Plan. The work culminated in a proposed Plan containing five prioritized activities to be carried out in the 2023-2024 period. This proposal should be formalized once its final version is reviewed by each institution. The elaboration of this new Work Plan marks the beginning of a new cycle of joint work among the research institutions of the Pacific Alliance countries, allowing progress in achieving the objectives proposed since its creation, and the better generation of scientific knowledge in fisheries and aquaculture for the sustainable management of hydrobiological resources and ecosystems.

As part of the activities, on the last day of the meeting, participants visited the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, which is a RAMSAR site and a Biosphere Reserve. In this opportunity, two sampling sites for the monitoring of artisanal fisheries that are part of INVEMAR’s Research Program for the Valuation and Use of Marine and Coastal Resources were visited. In addition, there was the occasion to learn about the activities carried out by the inhabitants of the Palafitos villages located in the marsh and to share with the community.

At the end of the activity, the Director of INVEMAR, Mr. Francisco Arias Isaza, highlighted the need that, despite the differences in the contexts of each country that is part of the Network, the institutions can link and find common ground to achieve progress. At the same time, the Director of IFOP, Mr. Gonzalo Pereira Puchy, highlighted the work carried out at the meeting and the participation of the institutions, pointing out the importance of making progress in the implementation of the Work Plan.

Dr. Mario Rueda, Coordinator of INVEMAR’s Marine and Coastal Resources Valuation and Development Research Program, and focal point of the Network at INVEMAR, highlighted the possibility of working in parallel on non-prioritized activities, which in some cases are key to the fisheries and aquaculture development of some countries, in order to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and strengthen relations among the Network’s member countries.

Daniela Díaz Guisado, Head of Cooperation and International Affairs of FIFG, and focal point of the Network in this institution, indicated that, from now on, the implementation and follow-up of the Work Plan will be worked on, promoting cooperation between the institutions in other areas of interest that were identified as part of the work carried out at the meeting.

The next meeting of the Network will be held virtually in September this year, and in March 2024 a new face-to-face meeting will be held in the city of Puerto Varas, Chile, organized by IFOP.

September 30, 2022.- In Mazatlan, Mexico, was held the event “The Creative Economy Recovery: Audiovisual Industries” of the Pacific Alliance (AP) that raised the importance of creative industries and their challenges.

The event took place in a hybrid format and was inaugurated by the Mexican Secretary of Economy, Tatiana Clouthier Carrillo, as president pro tempore of the mechanism.

Subsequently, the event featured an entrepreneurs panel, a Master Conference, and three round tables with high-level keynote speakers, with participants from the public and private sectors bringing their expertise in the field.

Finally, four short films, one for each country of the Pacific Alliance, were screened, reflecting the cultural diversity of our mechanism, and highlighting the creative industries’ talented actors.

On January 26, 2022, within the Buenaventura Summit, presidents of Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru signed the PACIFIC ALLIANCE PRESIDENTIAL STATEMENT ON THE STRENGTHENING OF THE CREATIVE ECONOMY. In that sense, the event answers the Pacific Alliance’s efforts to implement the Statement.

Creative industries are a source of wealth since they represent 3.1% of world GDP and 6.2% of total employment.

Within the Pacific Alliance, we recognize the creative industries take part in the engine for a sustainable economy and development of our populations.

Likewise, the Pacific Alliance is aware of the adverse effects that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on this sector. Within the PA, creative and cultural dynamics are driven by micro, small and medium-sized companies. Consequently, this sector has faced the greatest trade challenges.

Thus, as stipulated in the Creative Economy Statement, our regional mechanism will continue to deepen the articulation and networking processes between the creative industry and other economic sectors. This last will make it possible to promote added value in products and increase cultural and creative services exports.

October 12, 2022.- The Coordination of the Technical Subgroup on Monitoring, Reporting and Verification of the Pacific Alliance (SGT-MRV), through one of its representatives, Francisco Pinto, was invited to participate in the public session of the Council of the Chile-Canada Commission for Environmental Cooperation, held in Santiago de Chile.

The session included a master lecture on ‘Carbon pricing: one of the most effective and profitable tools to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote clean innovation’, given by Juan Pedro Searle, Head of Climate Change, Division of Energy and Environmental Studies and Policy of the Ministry of Energy of Chile and a presentation on ‘Carbon Pricing and Atmospheric Science’ by David Levy, member of the Joint Public Advisory Committee. The session had a broad panel discussion that included a representative from the Academy, Rodrigo Palma, Director of the Energy Center of the University of Chile; a representative from the private sector: Ana Lía Rojas, Executive Director of the Chilean Association of Renewable Energies and Storage, ACERA A.G.; a representative of civil society, Carolina Urmeneta, Director of the Circular Economy Program, Global Methane Hub, and; a representative from the regional perspective: Francisco Pinto, Coordinator of the Technical Subgroup on Monitoring, Reporting and Verification of the Pacific Alliance.

Addressing the regional perspective, and given the context of the session led by the governments of Chile and Canada, Francisco Pinto highlighted:

• Canada’s new technical and financial support package for the Pacific Alliance countries for CAD$4.5 million to strengthen their climate measurement, reporting and verification systems over the next four years (2022-2026).

• The recent experience and the challenges faced by Chile, Colombia and Mexico in the implementation of their first carbon price instruments, as well as Peru’s interest moving forward in the same lines.

• The constant interest of the countries of the Pacific Alliance to improve and sophisticate their measurement, reporting and verification systems associated with carbon price instruments, which are explicitly established in the coordination framework that guides the work and goals of the SGT- MRV.

In the following links you will find the inputs of the Public Session:

• Public Session Agenda – CCAEC

• Agenda – CCAEC – 20th Council Session – Public Session

• Master Lecture “Carbon price: one of the most effective and profitable tools to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote clean innovation”

• JPAC Presentation “Carbon Pricing and Atmospheric Science”

December 13, 2022.- On December 12, 2022, the Mexican Ambassador to Poland, Juan Sandoval Mendiolea, inaugurated the concert “Beyond an Alliance”, organized in collaboration with the Embassies of Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru in Poland.

Within the framework of Mexico’s pro tempore presidency of the Pacific Alliance, the concert was held in the Kotlownia Hall of the Polish Vodka Museum in Warsaw, with the participation of the Mexican soprano Alejandrina Vázquez and the Polish pianist Adam Mikołaj Goździewski , who performed songs from the four member countries of the Alliance.

During the inauguration, the importance of promoting actions that allow positioning the Pacific Alliance as a vanguard mechanism with concrete results and the need to create a deep integration area that promotes greater growth, development and competitiveness of the economies that integrate it was highlighted.

Among the more than 80 attendees at the event, the presence of the Vice-President of the Polish Senate, Gabriela Morawska-Stanecka, as well as members of the diplomatic corps, representatives of the Senate, and Polish ministries and economic and cultural institutions stood out.

At the end of the event, a tasting of typical dishes from the four countries of the Pacific Alliance was offered.

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