INCOBRA - Increasing International Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation between Brazil and the European Union

More than 500 Brazilian and German entrepreneurs participated in the 34^th Brazil-Germany Economic Meeting, held in the German city of Weimar. Present at the event, Minister of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services, Marcos Pereira, underscored the importance of partnership among countries in several aspects, including the elaboration of the Brazilian policy for advanced manufacturing, also called industry 4.0.

For the Brazilian Minister the German model for advanced manufacturing is one of the main references for Brazil. "The convergence between the physical and virtual world in the factories in the near future will integrate global value chains from designing a product to the end customer," he explained.

The Minister detailed the Brazilian proposal for industry 4.0, which has five strategic axes: the technologies in question; the configuration of value chains; appropriate human resources training; the regulatory frameworks and the necessary infrastructures.

Minister Pereira also highlighted the importance of the Agreement signed between Mercosul and the European Union to encourage commerce between Brazil and Germany.

In 2015, Brazil exported more than US$ 5 billion to Germany, its fifth main market. Importation passed US$ 10 billion last year. Germany was Brazil´s fourth main commercial partner, reaching a current commerce of more than $ 15 billion.

Finally, Pereira stated that Brazil will focus on reducing bureaucracy in all priority areas. "It is in this spirit that we are leading, jointly with the Ministry of Finance, and in coordination with 20 other government agencies, the main work front of the Brazilian trade debureaucracy, the Single Foreign Trade Portal Program, so to count with an active participation of the private sector" he added.

(CT & I Management Agency, with MDIC information)