III Binational Meeting of Ministers Chile-Argentina: Expanding science and technology agreements between Chile and Argentina is the title of the meeting held on Thursday 27 January in which were signed a series of commitments to strengthen the collaborative work between the two countries.

According to the press release of CONICYT, the agreements included the first call for financing joint research projects in the areas of nanotechnology and energy, which will be launch in March and the selected projects, would be implemented from November. In addition, it will be open the joint call made annually by CONICYT and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation of Argentina in the areas of biotechnology, astronomy, information and communication technologies to exchange projects, networks between research centers and training of human resources.

In addition, it was agreed the participation of the EXPLORA Project from CONICYT in the Technopolis Bicentennial Fair, Science, Technology and Art, to be held in May 2011 in Villa Martelli, Buenos Aires and the development of a meeting on good practices in policies and management tools of innovation (such as intellectual property, university-industry relations, technology transfer) during the first half of August in Buenos Aires.

Economy Minister, Juan Andrés Fontaine, the President of CONICYT, José Miguel Aguilera, and the Minister of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation of Argentina, Lino Barañao, expressed satisfaction at the results achieved in bilateral relations and pledged to continue working together to develop and coordinate policies that link science and technology innovation, in a way that scientific and technological advances are rapidly translated into improved quality of life for the inhabitants of both countries.