ActivaFest Iquique 2024: A Celebration of Entrepreneurship and Innovation
10/Dec/2024
The entrepreneurship festival featured 14 stands of farmers from El Tamarugal and over 25 businesses from the province of Iquique, as well as artistic performances and the pre-launch of the bi-regional call for applications to the Sustainability Challenges Program (Desafíos de Sostenibilidad).
Forty entrepreneurs from Iquique and El Tamarugal gave life to the second version of the local entrepreneurship festival ActivaFest Iquique 2024, organized by SQM Iodine Plant Nutrition with support from the Municipality of Iquique and Universidad Arturo Prat (UNAP). The event sought to strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem and showcase local businesses.
Held in front of the university, the event included live cooking demonstrations, art shows, K-Pop music, folkloric presentations and the Eliseo E-Karts experience, where children and teenagers drove electric go-karts around a circuit led by former Formula 1 driver Eliseo Salazar. In addition, the call for Sustainability Challenges applications was announced, seeking to support enterprises in Tarapacá and Antofagasta.
Carolina Guzmán, Deputy External Communications Manager for SQM Iodine Plant Nutrition, explained: “We are excited to support this new version of ActivaFest, featuring cultural presentations and the Eliseo E-Karts experience, which highlights the value of sustainability. In addition, we are very proud to join forces with Puerto CoWork and Fundación Factor de Cambio on Sustainability Challenges, where entrepreneurs from Tarapacá and Antofagasta can apply for important prizes starting in January.”
The opening ceremony included a presentation by Michelle Schnitzer, CEO and founder of BondUp, the first social network for seniors, who encouraged local entrepreneurs to apply for the new edition of Sustainability Challenges.
“It is a privilege and pride to be here to inspire and motivate local entrepreneurs. In their applications, it is important to be clear about their value proposition, what they offer and, above all, their solution’s scalability and potential to impact people’s quality of life,” she said, while also highlighting SQM Iodine Plant Nutrition’s commitment, adding that “it is important because it provides not just financing but also access to networks, contacts and community building and sharing with other entrepreneurs.
Lucy Muñiz, an agricultural entrepreneur from Bajo Soga, commented, “We are very grateful for this invitation, so that you can get to know our desert products. The farmers’ hands were involved here, directly from the grower to the consumer. Like Michelle, we want to go further, and today we brought products like beets, melons, garlic, flowers, medicinal herbs, carrots, among others.”
Finally, the Tarapacá regional representative for the Mining Ministry, Wladimir Astudillo, highlighted the mining industry’s social commitment in northern Chile and around the world, bringing wellbeing to territories where they operate. “In this case, SQM is forging bonds with these communities and channeling the benefits of mining like this.”
Similar initiatives will take place this week in the Antofagasta Region: “Tocopilla En Verde,” a festival of innovation, learning and sustainability, is scheduled for Wednesday, December 11th, followed by go-kart excitement in Mejillones on Saturday, December 14th.
