São Paulo – A technological park in the city of São Leopoldo, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, comprising 55 companies in the segment, has begun talks in order to promote cooperation and exchange with the Dubai Silicon Oasis, a free zone in the United Arab Emirates that focuses on high technology. The executive manager of Tecnosinos, Susana Kakuta, went to Dubai in October and met with representatives of the venture.
"It was an initial talk. We exchanged information. The idea is to have it evolve into an agreement," said Susana in an interview to ANBA by telephone. The manager travelled to the Arab country to attend the Gitex Technology Week, a technology fair held in Dubai in October, at a collective stand for companies from Rio Grande do Sul.
The Dubai Silicon Oasis and Tecnosinos, however, have different formats. The park in Brazil is owned by private enterprises, whereas the one in Dubai is state-owned and operates as a free zone, with tax exemption, for instance. It is part of a larger project for a zone covering 7.2 square kilometres and including, aside from the technological park, residential areas, educational facilities, healthcare, leisure and services.
According to Susana, the objective in cooperating with the Dubai Silicon Oasis is fostering business deals and offering Brazilian companies an anchor from which to operate in Dubai, as well as for Arab companies to operate in Brazil. "It is also a way of learning more about the markets," says the manager. Tecnosinos already has a similar agreement with a technological park in South Korea.
Tecnosinos, which belongs to the Vale do Rio dos Sinos University (Unisinos) features companies that operate in the fields of information technology, automation and engineering, communication and digital convergence, functional foods and nutraceutics, social-environmental technologies, and energy. The park currently houses enterprises from nine different countries: Brazil, Germany, India, South Korea, the Netherlands, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay and Italy.
According to Susana, the decision of taking part in the Gitex fair is strategic for Tecnosinos, because the Arab world and the emerging world in general are important to the companies in the park, especially those operating with information technology, communication and digital convergence. According to her, the solutions produced in a developing country such as Brazil may be better suited for them.
One of the objectives in attending the Gitex, according to Susana, is promoting business deals for the companies in the park. "Brazil is regarded as a partner with which dialogue is easy, especially by emerging countries at more advanced stages of development," she says. The presence in Dubai was also intended to attract Arab companies to the Brazilian park. According to the executive manager, Tecnosinos’ attendance in the next two editions is already confirmed.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
