Twinning Agreements, a decentralized international cooperation tool towards the strengthening of the south-south cooperation

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REVISTA DE NEGOCIOS INTERNACIONALES

Vol. 5 N 1. Pp. 71 - 82

Adriana QUICENO AGUIRRE Juan Fernando VLEZOCAMPO82RESEARCH PAPERS / ARTCULOS INVESTIGACIN

The consistent social behavior in the media conglomerate: The Cases of Walt Disney Company, TimeWarner, News Corporaon, Viacom and Prisa Group

Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 2011. El discurso de la RSC en los medios

de comunicacin social 2009. hp://www.ucm.es/info/vivataca/inicio_va.htm.

Accessed on 31/10/11

Viacom, 2011.Corporate Responsibility.hp://www.viacom.com/

corpresponsibility/Pages /default.aspx. Accessed 28/10/11.

Viars A, Mnica, 2009. El discurso de la rsc en los medios de comunicacin

social. Revista de Comunicacin Vivat Academia. hp://www.ucm.es/info/

vivataca/inicio_va.htm. Accessedon 31/10/11.

Walt Disney Company, 2011. Cizenship hp://corporate.disney.go.com/

cizenship/ awards.html Accessed on 29/10/11.

Revista de NegociosInternacionales

2012Vol. 5 N 1

DEPARTAMENTO DE Negocios Internacionales

Juliana Aldana Diaz

Twinning Agreements, a decentralized internaonal cooperaon tool towards the strengthening of the south-sou

cooperaon: The current case of Anoquia (Colombia) and the provinces of Jalisco (Mexico) and Minas Gerais (B

Revista de Negocios Internacionales. Vol. 5 N 1 - Enero - Junio de 2012 - Pp. 83 - 101

ISSN: 2027-2340


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Twinning Agreements, a decentralized internaonal cooperaon tool towards the strengtheningof the south-south cooperaon


Vol. 5 N 1. Pp. 83 - 101

Juliana ALDANA DIAZ83RESEARCH PAPERS / ARTCULOS INVESTIGACIN

JULIANAALDANA DIAZ 2

FECHADERECIBIDO: 30/11/2011

FECHADEACEPTADO: 20/01/2012

Twinning Agreements, adecentralized internationalcooperation tool towardsthe strengthening of thesouth-south cooperation:The current case of Antioquia(Colombia) and the provinces of Jalisco(Mexico) and Minas Gerais (Brazil).1

Abstract

Transformation of the approaches to international cooperation, variations in

local traditional management and different process of internationalization of

cities and regions have given rise to the concept of twinning agreements or

sister cities. These accessible mechanisms of local entities for international

participation and engagement have modified the structure of global relations

between regions leaving as a consequence, the addressing of local challenges

from its international dimension. This study considers the perspective of

twinning agreements as elements responding of current trends of decentralized

cooperation. Indeed, the present research is based on the analysis of three

provinces Antioquia (Colombia), Minas Gerais (Brazil) and Jalisco (Mexico)

1 For the selecon of the provinces, the criteria were based primarily on the current situ-

aon at Direccin de Internacionalizacin (Direcon of Internaonalizaon) where the processes re-

garding internaonal cooperaon are run within the Government of Anoquia. Thus, the provinces of

Jalisco and Minas Gerais were selected according to their formal expression of interest on the estab-

lishment of cooperaon agreements with Departamento de Anoquia since 2010, as well as on the

future benet results for Anoquia, aer previous meengs held with representaves of both regions.

2 Maria Juliana Aldana Daz trabaja desde Octubre 2011 en Telefnica Movistar en Mxico.

Anterior a esto fue consultora en el Centro para la Innovacin, Consultora y Empresarismo (CICE) de

la Universidad EAFIT, y durante el ao 2010 fue praccante en la Direccin de Internacionalizacin de

la Secretara de Producvidad y Compevidad de la Gobernacin de Anoquia. Correo electrnico:

[email protected]


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regarding the existing awareness of the Brazilian and the Mexican province to

establish cooperation ties with Medelln (and Antioquia).

ResumenLa transformacin de los enfoques de la cooperacin internacional, y las variaciones

en el manejo tradicional del proceso de internacionalizacin de ciudades y regiones

han dado origen al concepto de acuerdos de hermanamiento o de ciudades

gemelas. Estos mecanismos permiten acceso a endades locales a la parcipacin

internacional, y a raz de este compromiso han modicado la estructura de las

relaciones globales entre las regiones. Esto supone un direccionamiento de los

problemas locales y su dimensin internacional. En este estudio se considera el

punto de vista de los acuerdos de hermanamiento, como elementos que responden

a las tendencias actuales de la cooperacin descentralizada. En efecto, la presente

invesgacin se basa en el anlisis de las tres provincias de Anoquia (Colombia),

Minas Gerais (Brasil) y Jalisco (Mxico) .

Key words:

Internaonalizaon of cies, Twinning agreements, Sister cies, Colombia,

Medellin, Anoquia, Mina Gerais, Jalisco.

Palabras clave

Internacionalizacin de ciudades, acuerdos de ciudades gemelas, hermanamiento

de ciudades, Medelln, Anoquia, Jalisco, Mina Gerais

Introduction

Internaonal interacons, in where States and mulnaonal corporaons used

to take the most relevant roles, have been deeply pressured and modied by the

acons taken by regions and territories within a globalizaon framework that

have seen the importance of having direct internaonal connecons with their

similar enes worldwide.

Certainly, the phenomenon of globalization emphasized the importance of in-

ternational linkages and raised new relations between international and do-

mestic processes.

Therefore the cies, a major nodes of relaons, exchanges and producon, be -

come the places where the globalized and developed economies are seled(Jordan

&Simioni, 1998) (Huerto Romero, 2004:231). Thus, global scenarios facilitang

cooperaon networks between sub-naonal enes are becoming the perfect

spaces for the promoon of regional development.


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inserted into global economic networks, due to two main facts; rst the necessity

to ensure compeveness and producvity, and second, their obligaon to address

serious problems of socio-economic polarizaon and environmental sustainability.

Moreover, nowadays it is not only an internaonal exchange what modies states

interacons, the increased complexity of internaonal relaons has led to the

emergence of new and more plural actors, to the widespread of democrac and

decentralizaon processes around the world, to the revival of polical and social

dynamics at the territorial level, and to the development of new insights regarding

development. The laer, Huerto Romero (2004) states, permied the redenion

of the classic approach to internaonal cooperaon, and in consequence,

decentralized cooperaon started to be taken as the new way to manifest this

changed in cooperaon and transference of knowledge trend. These regional or

cross-border exchanges, oen, are powerful vectors for cultural dialogue, stability

and peace and for regional integraon at local levels.

This scenario of decentralized resources coming into the sub-naonal territories,

municipalies and other instuons and local and internaonal organizaons play

a signicant and more independent role, in fact as Beltrn (2007) assumes the

rst thing that maers is that large cies (at least the main cies of a country) are

actors in the global economy.Hence, a specic category of horizontal decentralized

cooperaon is formed in which sub-naonal units interact with each other. In that

sense, it is vital for local development, to give to those municipalies and territorial

enes the capability to assume the role of managing the scopes and means for

its development through internaonal cooperaon. Meaning, it is necessary that

naonal governments and instuons promote the empowerment of local units

of their single processes of development and growth. As stated by Accion Social

(2010), the Colombian Agency for Internaonal Cooperaon, it is imperave to

word towards the strengthening of the capacies of local and naonal actors to

organize the demand of the territories and implement aterritorial approach to

achieve the principles of eecve cooperaon.

Within this perspecve of decentralized cooperaon, twinning agreements

emerge as a tool of supporng and enhancing municipal necessies and engaging

internaonal sub-units. The laer as twinning agreements foster internaonal

interacons through direct mechanisms that, although do not involve transference

of capital resources, it paves the path to the creaon of networks of strong cies

making clear local common necessies at a naonal and internaonal.

In the other hand, however, according to the European Think Tank FRIDE 2008,

decentralized internaonal cooperaon has its own limitaons, such as dispersion

in the form of mulplicaon of small eorts, the proliferaon of small projects,


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Evidences

The processes of democrazaon, decentralizaon and structural reform within

countries, coupled with the phenomenon of globalizaon, have generated an

increment in the internaonal interacon moving towards to a phenomenon in

which sub-naonal units have acquired their own parcipaon in the internaonal

arena with their peers in other countries, and they are building new scenarios for

naonal and local development (Ruiz Alans, 2009). As in the present analyzed

case, regional provinces now are willing to take advantage of internaonal

possibilies and want to learn and be beneted by internaonal good case

pracces and resources. In that sense, interacons are growing as necessies

become even more complex and the resources more scarcely. Decentralized

cooperaon, in turn, is only a mechanism available for those provinces and

territories that, from a public strategy, dened an internaonalizaon process

coherent with their situaon and specic requirements.

Decentralized cooperaon began in the aerwards of World War II mainly in

the form of twinning agreements. As the situaon demanded, the main issues

involved on the agreements were aimed at building bridges of understanding

and condence between peoples of naons which had been at war (UNPAD,

2008), based on the primarily necessity of avoiding a new global confrontaon.

It was only unl the rst African Conference on Global Intercommunal,

Cooperaon held in Senegal, in 1964, that twinning agreements were actually

recognized as instruments for fostering internaonal decentralized cooperaon.

Since then, decentralized ocial cooperaon was dened as a form of local

interests and expectaons projecon, which may have a polical, economic

or social background, regarding parcular situaons of a given sub-naonal

territory (Ruz Alanis, 2009).

Currently the objecves of decentralized cooperaon are broader than

the tradional twinning agreements for avoiding conicts. Issues such as

community development - with a focus on meeng basic needs, municipal

capacity development, and social awareness- and educaon for development,

are on the current agenda for most of the developing naons of Lan America.

As a result, decentralized cooperaon became a modern vehicle (or even, in

some cases, an extra tool) for regional governments to achieve internaonal

compeveness as it allows the territories to address specic needs for the

improvement of the welfare of the populaon and the promoon of economic

and social development.


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Moreover, decentralized cooperaon is nowadays considered as one of the key

strategies for achieving the Millennium Development Goals3, thus, it is seen as a

tool for creang mutually rewarding cooperaon es that can foster sustainable

development not only as a North-South relaon, but also south-south cooperaon

links between developing countries worldwide. The laer is conrmed by the

Internaonal Cooperaon and Investment Agency of Medellin (ACI), which recognizes

that decentralized Cooperaon is set on two basic lines of acon: promong the

best and increased ecient human and sustainable local development, and applying

the most creave forms of parcipave and direct local democracy.

Twinning Agreements: A decentralized

cooperation tool

The XXVI General Assembly of the United Naons in 1971 addressed the subject

of The Twining of cies as a means of internaonal cooperaon on the

Resoluon 2861. This resoluon stated that twinning cooperaon mechanism

represented exceponal value, because it put in contact between countries, not

just local leaders, but enre populaons. Besides, the document stressed that

internaonal cooperaon of local communies can play an important role in the

union of peoples. As a result it considered world inter-municipal cooperaon as

regular complement to the cooperaon between states (Secretary of Mexican

External Relaons).

According to the exisng literature, twinning agreements are not precisely

documents but situaons in which sub-naonal units, either region, provinces or

cies, interact at the internaonal level in order to exchange experiences that

improve their internaonal inseron and their access to dierent sources of

global resources. Twinning is basically a tool used by regions in order to address

their specic and unique necessies through internaonal mechanisms.

As twining agreements are derived of specic local interests, it remarkable to note

that above that twinning also responds to dierent movaons speaking of the

desirable region to have a twinning with. According to Luna and Ballesteros (2005)

research on twinning agreements of Mexican regional units, there are four (4)

main movaons that produce the constuon of twinning agreements, however

as these categories included comprehensive reasons to establish this internaonal

3 The Millennium Development goals are the main focus on the internaonal cooperaon

funds and projects worldwide. Among other targets, the Millennium Development Goals aims at pro-

mong commitment to good governance, development, and poverty reducon through partnerships

and collaboraon.


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agreement, they are taken into account for the present research. In that way,

historical movaons arise when twinning regions have past bonding es, as in the

case of many agreements between Lan American regions with Spanish regions.

Social movaons appear when regions have a common community phenomenon

they prefer to address together in order to prove some benet for both territories,

as the case of the cooperaon of Colombian regions and Mexican States to address

violence and conict consequences. Addionally, economic movaons are those

that come when regions engage twinning to have commercial networks that are

necessary to improve the territories, like the case of Minas Gerais and its twinning

agreements with provinces of Argenna that allow it to improve commercial es.

And nally, convenience strategic movaons are those that arise when regions

or cies are twinned as a need to establish cooperaon mechanisms of various

kinds, as a clear example are the twinning agreements of both Jalisco and Minas

Gerais with Asian regions and developed countries from which they have access

to up-to-date technology and to a potenal market.

The importance of these movaons for the present research is basically of

its strategic linkage with its use, as these are reasons to establish a twinning

agreement that can strengthen and facilitate the process of interacon with other

region. Moreover, as the following descripon noce, both Jalisco and Minas

Gerais, have clearly dened the objecves of their twinning agreements and

although it is not clear that they have established a specic set of movaons, it is

clear that they select the twin region not by chance but aer a process of analysis

and strategy set up.

Twinning Agreements in the selected provinces

Due to the nature of Gobernacion de Anoquia in Colombia as a public enty and

also the counterpares of Jalisco and Minas Gerais, the main concept regarding

internaonal cooperaon will be Public Decentralized Cooperaon, which is

dened by the Decentralized Cooperaon Observatory for European Union

and Lan America, the set of internaonal cooperaon acons that perform

or promote local and regional governments. In fact, as the present research

involves the analysis of the three provinces, then be submied a descripon of

the situaon of twinning agreements in Anoquia, Jalisco and Minas Gerais in

order to get the general view of each province.

Antioquia (Colombia)

For over a decade, polical, economic and social issues have allowed Medellin

and Anoquia to move forward within the context of internaonal cooperaon


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and, according to the ACI, to be an acve region within the Naonal System of

Cooperaon4. Indeed, the historical condions of armed conict and violence

in the region have pushed the entering ows of resources that have allow to

develop parallel projects of educaon and poverty migaon in the territory. Yet,

as the necessies of the region become more complex, eecve coordinaon,

guidance, monitoring of the actors and intervenon strategies are required to be

modernized and adjusted more frequently.

According to an interview made to the current Director of Internaonalizaon and

the literature review, Anoquia does not have any twinning agreement with a similar

hierarchy internaonal territory. Nonetheless, some municipalies of Anoquia

have established internaonal cooperaon es with their internaonal pairs.

Table 1 shows some of the current internaonal agreements signed

by municipalies of Anoquia.

MUNICIPALITYINTERNATIONAL

PROVINCE

FOCUS OF THE

AGREEMENTDATE

MedellinThe DominicanRepublic

Transparencyin municipalmanagement, socialplanning, tourism andenvironment.

August2010

BelloSan Nicols de losGarza, Mexico

Promoon of trade,

investment, industrydevelopment andtourism.

February2010

MedellinMonterrey,Mexico

NotavailableSeptember1996

Santa Fe deAnoquia

Trujillo, SpainPromoon of cultural

tourismOctober2005

Medellin Bilbao, Spain Strategic urban planning. June 1998

Santa Fe deAnoquia

Cadiz, Spain Promoon of cultureNotavailable

Guatape San Juan delPuerto,Spain

Promoon of tourism, localmanagement

Notavailable

MedellinFort Lauderdale,United States

Not available 1961

4 The system aims to provide a comprehensive and permanent dialogue among government

enes at the naonal and local sources of cooperaon and social organizaons, promong decentral-

izaon and the development of informaon channels of double track.


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In fact, the informaon regarding twinning agreements of the dierent

municipalies in Anoquia is neither organized nor complete on any of the

governmental web sources (at the regional or local level). Hence, the gathered

informaon was not easy to compile and in comparison to the other provinces

involved, this is an enormous disadvantage not having a clear awareness

of internaonal cooperaon acvies related to twinning agreements over

the whole territory; not only for technical purposes of accountability for the

key performance indicators5 (KPIs) but also for taking advantage of all the

opportunies coming from twinning agreements such as exchange of good

pracces, increase of investment, internaonal recognion, among others.

Nevertheless, it is important to have clear that this situaon does not mean

Gobernacin de Anoquia has any relaon with internaonal counterparts,

because also as an outcome of the present research, there are a considerable

number of projects within the territory that are executed with internaonal

cooperaon resources coming mainly from mullateral organizaons, such as

United Naons, World Bank and Interamerican Development Bank in elds like

poverty alleviaon, food safety, childhood, among others.

On the other hand, aer the vericaon of the current twinning agreements of

Gobernacion de Anoquia, another issue is revealed: Medellin is the municipality

that has the highest number of twinning agreements in the region. Hence, the

capital city of Anoquia is evidently more posioned at the internaonal level and

even more recognized on the internaonal cooperaon eld than Anoquia; the

laer is shown in the number of internaonal events held in Medellin, the number

of internaonal commiees coming to the city, the number of internaonal

networks that the city belongs and likewise the naonal recognion of Medellins

acvies and instuons (ACI) for the promoon of the internaonal cooperaon6.

Jalisco (Mexico)

The State of Jalisco has strengthened its internaonal posion through eleven

twinning agreements and three cooperaon agreements with various key states,

provinces, regions or countries for the development of the Jaliscos society.

5 Key performance indicators help an organizaon dene and measure progress toward or-

ganizaonal goals, in the case of Departamento de Anoquia, KPIs are seled on the Development

Plan of each 4-year governmental period and must be accomplished and registered on the integrated

quality system for public access OMEGA.

6 As a clear example, Medellin will be the home of the IV Meeng of Decentralized Coopera-

on of Accion Social, from 14 to 15 April 2010.


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Addionally an important fact to be noced is that Jalisco is the Mexican State

which has the highest number of internaonal cooperaon agreements.

According to ocial informaon gather from the Government of Jalisco webpage,

there are four main categories in which Jaliscos twinning agreements are based:

Economy - Environment - Culture - Urban Planning Health.

Research and Training in IT - Informaon Technology - Rural Development.

Business Cooperaon - Regional Development - Educaon Tourism.

Family Development and Women - Historical Heritage -

municipal Development.

Jalisco, in turn has established twinning agreements for historical, economic and

convenience movaons as the laer categories evidence. In that sense, Jalisco

has strategically used this decentralized cooperaon tool as a means of strengthen

its internaonal visibility and its internal development.

Certainly, the level of internaonal posioning of the Mexican province of Jalisco is

remarkable, not only by the fact of spreading its internaonal connecons around

the world (only 34% of the total twinning agreements are seled with Lan

American countries) but also the informaon is clearly idened and classied,

which permits a higher level of accountability and control.

Table 2 describes the type of agreements signed by the Province of

Jalisco

Source: Secretary of External Relaons of Mexico 2010.

Jalisco, between the three selected provinces, is the region that has the highest

number of twinning agreements. Certainly, this fact responds not only to an

internaonalizaon regional strategy but to a public policy regarding twinning

in Mexico which is executed through the Mexican Program of Sister Cies and

Decentralized Internaonal Cooperaon. This naonal strategy under the

umbrella of the Law on Treaes Celebraons, aims to frame the inter-instuonal

agreements of Mexican provinces with other internaonal provinces or agencies.

NUMERALIA DE ACUERDOS INTERINSTITUCIONALES

HermanamientosConvenios que no son

hermanamientosTotales

Estatal 8 54 62

Municipal 24 4 28

Totales 32 58 90


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Minas Gerais (Brazil)

For the government of Minas Gerais, Sister Provinces are considered those that

establish agreements with the State of Minas Geraisdetermining the common

desire to expand and develop fraternal cooperaon. Those agreements are

based on the principles of quality and mutual benet, both should promote

friendly exchanges and trade contacts between their respecve peoples, and

develop cooperaon in the areas of science and technology, sports, culture,

public health and educaon (Secretary of Economic Development of Minas Gerais

Webpage).

Table 3 describes the main components of the twinning agree-

ments of Minas Gerais

Source: Government of Minas Gerais, Secretary of Economic Development, Internaonal Relaons.

From the gathered informaon, it is relevant to bear in mind that Minas Gerais has

established twinning agreements with key countries around the world, responding

to economic and convenience movaons and also with neighbor partner as the

province of Cordoba in Argenna that could be related to strategic movaons as

it are located in one of the most important trading partners for Brazilian products.

Finally, subsequently of reviewing the gathered informaon, two main facts were

acknowledged that exercise a direct inuence over the impact of internaonal

cooperaon within the region. First, it is necessary to promote a culture of

INTERNATIONAL

PROVINCEFOCUSOFTHEAGREEMENT DATE

Jiangsu, ChinaScience, technology, electronics industry, biotechnology, agro-business.

1996

Yamanashi,

JapanElectricity, agro-food industry, environment, mining, computer

science, training.1973

Quebec, CanadaEconomic, scienc, technological and training, internaonal

compeveness, industrial cooperaon projects, technology.1996

Queensland,Australia

Environmental sectors and foreign trade, management of water

resources, mining sector and trade in iron ore and derivaves.2003

Cordoba,Argenna

Environmental sectors and foreign trade, management of waterresources, mining sector and trade in iron ore and derivaves.

1993

Piedmont, Italy Strengthening internaonal compeveness. 1993

Daegu, SouthKorea

Strengthening es with acvies and iniaves in the planning

stage.1994

Brandenburg,

GermanyStrengthening es with acvies and iniaves in the planning

stage.Notavailable


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internaonal cooperaon that fosters a sense of responsibility in local development,

consistently responding to global changes and to the basic element of sustainable

development within the region. And second, management of cooperaon of local

governments and instuons shall be strengthen, understanding the cooperaon

as an integral and parcipatory process and not as an isolated instuonal eort,

in order to assure an outcome with a greater impact, more ecient and with a

higher level of compliance with common regional goals.

Discussion

Having in mind that the new trends aroused from internaonal organizaons

pung decentralizaon of local governments as the main responsible for

generang development, as the municipal level represents the basic cell because

it is the polical and administrave eld closest to the demands of the community

(Ruz, 2009), the approximaon of the new role of cies in the juridical naonal

and internaonal scenario is seled and modied according to the trends of

cooperaon and integraon networks, creang triangular relaons between

the world, the States and the Cies (Beltrn, 2007). However, Departamento de

Anoquia is not currently a complete engaged unit to the internaonal system

as the eorts made to achieve this objecve have not been strong enough to

guarantee an internaonal addressing of local needs. This is contrasted to the

situaon in Jalisco, which is the Mexican state with the highest number of twinning

agreements, and in Minas Gerais that has twinning agreements with important

and developed cies around the world.

One important issue regarding the present research was the fact that the

evaluated twinning agreements were proposed by the foreign provinces,

Jalisco and Minas Gerais, showing a clear lack of interest from Gobernacin de

Anoquia to strengthen its internaonalizaon process through the promoon

of the process of twinning regions. Moreover, it is relevant to bear in mind that

the Direcon of Internaonalizaon of Gobernacin de Anoquia was also

created unl 2008, meaning that it has only two years of working me that have

not been enough for the delimitaon of the priories of Anoquia regarding

internaonalizaon or cooperaon.

In order to address beer the local concerns, it is imperave to establish Country

Direcves to develop twinning agreements within the subnaonal units; this

allow each province to have guides and direcons when iniang internaonal

relaons. Owing to the number and quality of twinning agreements of Minas

Gerais and Jalisco, we can state that decentralized cooperaon has become a

state-province policy rather than a governmental policy, the laer is not present


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at Gobernacin de Anoquia in which the reality decentralized cooperaon has

not acquire the level of importance for development that it embraces.

Professionalizaon as one of the main requirements for an adequate process of

internaonalizaon through decentralized cooperaon iniaves has emerged

aer the analysis of the cases of Minas Gerais and Jalisco, where there are specic

units and people in charge of development cooperaon strategies for the territorys

development. In the case of Anoquia, there is not such enty at the regional

level; nevertheless, Medellin, the capital city, does count on the ACI, which is the

agency that has promoted since a decade ago cooperaon, internaonalizaon

and investment for the city.

Addionally, although not explicit present in the literature review, the conformaon of

networks for the applicaon, promoon and disseminaon of pracces of decentralized

cooperaon is a key element regarding the internaonal posioning of the involved

enes. In Anoquia, the case of la Red Anoquea de CooperacinInternacional

(created in 2000), has been used to this purpose acng as a regional strategy of

networking of public, private and academic instuons inuenced radically by the

recognion of various civil society stakeholders as partners in policy formaon at local,

naonal, regional and global level and aimed at the strengthening of local capacies

for decentralized cooperaon. Nonetheless, the role of Gobernacin de Anoquia

within this network has not been pernent as the guidance has been taken by the ACI,

the laer reects, once again, the leadership of decentralized cooperaon has not

been in hand of the regional authority but the local.

Currently there are three main dicules of the process internaonal cooperaon

instuonalizaon in the region: the poor coordinaon among the diverse actors

managing internaonal cooperaon within the territory, the lack of denion

of the key priories of the regionand the lack informaon and apprehension of

the contents associated to instuonal requirements, policies and process of

cooperaon have let an outcome of disarculaon and mulplicaon of the same

acvies towards dierent objecves. This is translated into ineciency in the use

of capital and human resources.

However, and although it is not an iniave under the leadership of Gobernacion

de Anoquia, it is relevant to menon that currently Medellin, headed by the ACI,

is in charge of the design of the Public Regional Internaonal Cooperaon Policy

for Anoquia. Under this approach, the construcon of agendas of cooperaon

with joint and share visions has been jused. Nevertheless, as a public policy

from Medellin with a Regional Approach it should integrate and strengthen

partnerships and inclusion of new local actors capable of meeng the challenge of

globalizaon through eecve mechanisms.


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Regarding the research queson the main impact for Gobernacin de Anoquia,

aer the process of informaon compilaon and analysis, it is not precisely

reected in the future outcome arising from these agreements but in the

possibility of establishing mature and strong internaonal relaons for the rst

me and to posion Anoquia as a regional core for decentralized cooperaon.

The laer, due to the fact that Gobernacin de Anoquia has established

dierent internaonal connecons and associaons to the implementaon of

projects and iniaves, however, it has not yet established concrete relaons

with an internaonal peer. Therefore, the impact is basically the beginning of a

coherent and serious progression of internaonalizaon with two provinces that

belong to the biggest countries of Lan America. Meaning that it is the perfect

scenario for Anoquia regarding internaonalizaon through decentralized

cooperaon as it would start with two relevant partners and would be based on

strategic issues for the 3 regions.

Conclusion

The success of twinning agreements iniaves have not been a sporadic

phenomenon: they have become an instrument of cohesion and internaonal

exchange which keeps demonstrang enormous advantage through decades.

Aer the realizaon of the present research it was clear the necessity of an

increase of internaonal networking for Anoquia if development is a core goal.

In fact, the current trends of internaonal cooperaon, reducon of cooperaon

resources, new actors and modalies, focus of the eecveness of aid, increasing

role of the private sector and the civil society, search for coherence between

commerce, investment, cooperaon and debt (Accion Social), demand a more

proper approach from the coming Governor of Anoquia7that tackles not only

the specic necessies of the territory but also that build capabilies in order that

those necessies are beer addressed. Indeed, the next approach shall be dened

working closely with the enes in charge of the territorial development such as

the IDEA (Instuto para el Desarrollo de Anoquia) and ADRA (Agencia para el

Desarrollo Regional de Anoquia) in order to dene key sectors and priories and

to arculate eorts towards the same objecves.

Moreover, recognizing internaonal decentralized cooperaon as an eecve

means of capacity building, sustainable alleviaon of poverty and human

development, one of the challenges of Gobernacin de Anoquia is to contribute

7 This year ends the current governmental period of the Governor Luis Alfredo Ramos

Botero. Next period will be from 2012 to 2015.


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to the strengthening of local structures in areas such as local management,

urban governance, cizen parcipaon, among others, in order to get a broader

experience regarding decentralized cooperaon apprehension and to take

advantage of internaonal opportunies for local realies.

For the improvement of the access to internaonal resources through decentralized

cooperaon and twinning agreements, Gobernacin de Anoquia must strengthen

the strategic and normave aspect regarding internaonal cooperaon, meaning

the necessity of establishing a framework for acon and development of

cooperaon mechanisms. Furthermore, it is essenal to arculate polical and

social will in order to coordinate social concerns with polical capacies on the

design of a clear a coherent cooperaon policy.

The present research permits the recognion of decentralised cooperaon as a

means of allowing local actors to gain internaonal or cross-border experience on

the basis of exchanges between individuals and same-level authories. Indeed,

it makes a clear point in the fact that training of local sta, parcularly in project

management, is crucial. Moreover, it also makes evident that decentralized

cooperaon enables a more parcipatory development policy, taking into account

the needs and iniaves of people and facilitang the enhancement of cizen

parcipaon in policies that aect them. Consequently, the strengthening of

local capacies, parcularly that of local authories, must be conceived as a

democrazing process promong the acve involvement of civil society and local

populaons and consolidaon of the accountability processes and recepveness

of local authories concerned,


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Documents

Twinning Agreements, a decentralized international cooperation tool towards the strengthening of the south-south cooperation