São Paulo – The Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MCTI) will collaborate with the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) to showcase the Brazilian space sector to the audiences at Expo 2020 Dubai. The executive secretary of the Ministry, Sergio Freitas de Almeida, met with heads of the ABCC in the city of São Paulo this Friday (30) to discuss cooperation and other possibilities for strengthening ties between Brazil and the Arab countries in the area of science and technology. Pictured above, the president of the ABCC, Osmar Chohfi, and Almeida.
Expo 2020 Dubai is a world’s fair that will take place in the United Arab Emirates from October 1 this year to March 31 next year. At the Expo, countries will present their best in several areas. Brazil will have a pavilion at the fair, in which sustainability will be the main theme, and many activities will be carried out. One of them will be Space Week, from October 16 to 23, parallel with the Expo’s regular schedule.
During the period centered on the subject, the Brazilian government intends to show the country’s potential in the space area. In an interview with ANBA, the executive secretary of the MCTI gave an overview of Brazil’s situation in the segment. The country has the Alcântara Launch Center, a rocket launching site in the state of Maranhão, which was opened to commercial operation, including by foreigners. “There are already four foreign companies qualified to launch satellites from the Alcântara Site,” said Almeida.
Brazil also signed the NASA Artemis Program, becoming the only country in Latin America to join the initiative. The program brings several principles, guidelines, and best practices for space exploration and is committed to land African American and female astronauts on the moon. According to Almeida, in the program, Brazil will provide rovers, small equipment for collecting material and data on the moon and other surfaces. “Brazil already has experience in this, supplying equipment related to the aerospace sector,” he says.
É do Brasil também o primeiro astronauta da América do Sul a ir ao espaço, o atual ministro da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovações, Marcos Pontes. Ele viajou em 2006, na Missão Centenário, para a Estação Espacial Internacional. Além disso, o Brasil possui expertise no setor privado em produção de equipamentos de tecnologia da informação e comunicações voltados ao setor espacial, principalmente para a transmissão de dados.
The first South American astronaut to go into space is also from Brazil, the current minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation, Marcos Pontes. He traveled in 2006, in the Missão Centenário [Centenary Mission], to the International Space Station (ISS). In addition, Brazil has expertise in the private sector in producing information technology and communications equipment for the space sector, mainly for data transmission.
The MCTI is looking for partners interested in participating in the Space Week at Expo 2020 Dubai, both from the Brazilian and Arab countries’ private sectors. “We would like, in the Brazil Pavilion at the Expo, to produce the best possible content to display all these previous Brazilian experiences, as well as to open up opportunities for companies worldwide to invest in this sector using Brazil as a base,” he said.
The secretary of Articulation and Promotion of Science of the MCTI, Christiane Gonçalves Corrêa, participated in the meeting remotely from Brasília and presented a preview of what will be done in the Brazil Pavilion during Space Week at Expo 2020. The plan is for all content about the Brazilian potential in the space sector to be presented dynamically with the projection of large pictures, presentation of models, creation of a space with an observation deck, video rooms, and an area for discussions. Marcos Pontes is expected to participate.
The president of the ABCC was eager to collaborate, including prospecting for member companies that may be interested in the partnership. Minister Marcos Pontes should meet business people at the end of August while visiting São Paulo. On this occasion, the ABCC Lab, the institution’s innovation laboratory, will be launched. The ABCC has an office in Dubai, and Chohfi made the structure available to the MCTI during Space Week.
Due to the logistics, budget, and shipping of equipment challenges involving the participation in the Expo 2020 Dubai, Almeida intends to rely on the know-how of the ABCC, which is already established in the UAE and knows the Arab business sector well. The meeting in São Paulo was arranged on a visit by Chohfi and the secretary-general of the ABCC, Tamer Mansour, to the MCTI, in Brasília, about two weeks ago. The Marketing & Content director of the ABCC, Silvana Gomes, and the Institutional Relations manager of the organization, Fernanda Baltazar, also participated in the meeting in São Paulo.
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
