Canada and Brazil Sign Agreement on Science,
Technology and Innovation Cooperation
The Honourable Stockwell Day, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, and Sergio Machado Rezende, Brazil’s Minister of Science and Technology, today signed the Canada-Brazil Framework Agreement for Cooperation on Science, Technology and Innovation. The agreement will boost collaborative research and development activities and lead to the commercialization of new ideas.
“Canada understands the importance of establishing partnerships in international research and development, and the critical role science and technology play in the new economy,” said Minister Day. “We are pleased to sign this agreement with Brazil, which will forge vital, commercially rewarding alliances and partnerships with one of the largest and most diversified economies in the Americas.”
The agreement will promote greater collaboration in research and development (R&D) between Brazil and Canada in areas of mutual interest. These areas include aerospace, agriculture, biotechnology, nanotechnology, pharmaceuticals, information and communications technology, and renewable energy development. Experience shows that for every dollar Canada spends on such programs, partners contribute $7.50.
Under the agreement, Canada will contribute a total of $1.5 million over the next two years toward this agreement. Fund are available to support up to half of the costs of R&D arrangements and contracts between Canadian and Brazilian companies, governments, academia and science and research institutes.
The science and technology agreement builds on Canada’s important commercial and political relations with Brazil, the 10th-largest economy in the world. Merchandise trade between the two countries reached nearly $4.9 billion in 2007. Accumulated Canadian investment in Brazil reached $8.8 billion in the same year, making Brazil the 10th-largest destination for Canadian direct investment. In 2007, Brazil was the seventh-largest source of foreign direct investment in Canada, with $12.8 billion in stock.
Science and technology agreements are an important part of Canada’s Global Commerce Strategy, which provides $50 million per year to develop the country’s trade and investment interests at home and abroad.
Canada has identified Brazil as a priority market, and Brazil is an important part of Canada’s Americas Strategy, a policy of engagement based on the promotion and enhancement of security, prosperity and democratic governance.
