2003: The AL-INVEST III Programme

CESES Joins AL-INVEST: From Europe to Latin America

By the early to mid-2000s, CESES faced a turning point. Initial support from the EU’s PHARE and TACIS programmes was fading, and the future of the young network was uncertain.

But a new opportunity emerged: AL-INVEST III, the third iteration of an EU-funded programme aimed at fostering economic cooperation with Latin America. It focused on helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) grow through international collaboration, market access, and business development.

It was around this time that CESES became a partner in the AL-INVEST programme — a move that gave the network a renewed mandate, new regions of operation, and new momentum.

The programme marked a major shift for CESES — extending its mission beyond Europe and bringing its senior experts into new contexts and cultures across Latin America.

It wasn’t just a new project. It was a key reason CESES had been built in the first place: to be a unified platform for senior expert cooperation, ready to respond to evolving EU priorities.

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