«Hoy, Silicon Valley es el motor tecnológico del mundo. Y si tenemos en cuenta que el 65% de las exportaciones de software de Uruguay se dirige a Estados Unidos, debíamos estar acá. Es el lugar más icónico en la materia”, dijo Ignacio González sobre la principal razón de la reapertura de un consulado uruguayo en la bahía de San Francisco para el que fue designado cónsul general.
This diplomatic office to be set up shortly in the city of San Francisco will serve the needs of any compatriot based in the nine Bay Area counties - Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma - with special emphasis on technology entrepreneurs coming to Silicon Valley, the region that encompasses the largest technology corporations and thousands of startups.
Uruguay had a consulate in San Francisco but it was closed in 1985. The new one will join those already established in New York, Miami, Chicago and Los Angeles.
What are the objectives?
Ignacio González was appointed as Consul in San Francisco for the next five years. "The main line of work is quite clear: to open doors for Uruguayan entrepreneurs," he said in a talk he held with students and graduates of the Graduate School of the ORT University in the framework of an academic trip in conjunction with Spring Network, a Latin American network of innovative business schools that includes the University of San Andrés (Argentina), Universidad del Desarrollo (Chile), ESPAE Graduate School of Management (Ecuador) and ESAN Business School (Peru).
The permanent presence provided by having a consulate in the area will, in González's opinion, facilitate the journey for students and entrepreneurs arriving in Silicon Valley. In this sense, one of the first tasks of the office - in addition to the consular procedures that today must be carried out in Los Angeles - will be the execution of "a mapping of Uruguayans working in the region in order to open the doors to others". This responds to one of the fundamental aspects of survival in the area: the generation of a network of personal and professional contacts. The aim is to know where Uruguayans are so that they can be the first to lend a hand to a compatriot.
"Many times people think that just by getting on a plane and arriving you are already on the other side, but that is not the case. Based on the experience, we want to prepare a 'soft landing' for Uruguayan entrepreneurs and pave the way for them with cultural change, such as what to say in a presentation to investors or how to dress for meetings," said González.
Moreover, the consulate in San Francisco will follow up on all visits and trade missions undertaken by Uruguay XXI as the agency responsible for export and investment promotion.
"One of our objectives is for them to associate Uruguay with technology and for them to know that it is a serious, stable and reliable country that does things well. We are the country that exports the most software per capita in South America and we have great potential in this area," said the consul general.
Another line of work of the new consulate will be education. It will seek to promote the exchange of teachers and students between Uruguayan universities and those located in Silicon Valley, such as Stanford, Berkeley, San Francisco, Draper University (focused on business) and Santa Clara, among others.
Source: El País
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