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

Portuguese Economy Minister Manuel Caldeira Cabral and the president of the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (Fiesp), Paulo Skaf, signed on November, 16^th a Memorandum of Understanding to foster exchange for internationalization of startups. The idea of ​​the agreement is to make room for Brazilian startups in Portugal and for Portuguese companies in Brazil.

The Portuguese leader stressed that both countries want to promote entrepreneurship and encourage innovative companies. "For this we need to make this bridge between the institutions where there are innovative companies," he said, noting that the program Acelera Startup, promoted by Fiesp, is one of the examples in which the agreement can be accomplished. "We have to select Portuguese companies with interesting solutions to participate in Acelera."

The next step of the initiative is to enable reciprocity in the use of incubators in both countries, as well as to find ways for funds and other financial resources aimed at the development of startups to also serve the international nascent companies. The goal, Minister Cabral explained, is that Portugal treats Brazilian startups as if they were Portuguese companies and vice versa.

The Portuguese Economy Minister also stressed that there is a lot of space to be explored in relation to small and medium-sized enterprises and also in terms of scientific and technological cooperation.