Caracas, March 28, 2025 – Eight key points aimed at strengthening the development of the region’s nations were approved this Friday during the First Meeting of Ministers and High-Level Authorities in Science and Technology of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – Peoples’ Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP). The meeting, held in Venezuela, was part of the agreements reached at the bloc’s 12th Extraordinary Summit in February of this year.

The Executive Secretary of ALBA, Jorge Arreaza, presented the agreements, which are outlined as follows:

1. Establishment of the ALBA Center for Science, Technology, and Artificial Intelligence in the second half of 2025. This strategic initiative will be based in Venezuela and will serve as a hub for promoting scientific, technological, and socio-productive advancement among the Alliance’s member countries.
2. Conducting research activities across all branches of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to provide services and solutions that contribute to the productive, social, and economic sectors, with a focus on areas such as agriculture, health, education, energy, oil, environment, and culture.
3. Facilitating and implementing educational programs to train talent and build comprehensive capacities at all levels of education. This includes specialized courses and workshops on AI, Data Science, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning for both students and professionals.
4. Promoting innovation and the development of applied solutions based on Data Science and AI to enhance efficiency, optimize processes, and improve service quality in fields such as healthcare, public services, and food sovereignty.
5. Developing a joint AI computing infrastructure to provide an independent technological foundation for experimenting, evaluating, and deploying Machine Learning and Deep Learning models, as well as foundational models and large language models. This initiative will also include the creation of a human talent platform.
6. Supporting scientific and technological education through a scholarship program. The Venezuelan government has committed to granting 50 scholarships at the University of the Sciences in fields such as Microbiology, Biotechnology, Biochemistry, Ecology, Immunology, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Anthropology, Medical Physics, Human Genetics, Nanotechnology, and Biodiversity, among others.
7. Enhancing cooperation in the training and specialization of human talent through technical and specialized training programs, scholarships, doctoral studies, and master’s degree programs. Additionally, Venezuela has pledged to manufacture diagnostic kits for diseases, in accordance with the needs submitted by ALBA member states through the Executive Secretariat.
8. Strengthening regional production capabilities through cooperation in biotechnology applied to agriculture and Earth observation. This effort will be supported by the technical cooperation of the Bolivarian Agency for Space Activities (ABAE in Spanish).