Swedes to inaugurate research center on region of Grande ABC
DCI
The first Research and Development Center (R&D) in Brazil of the Swedish company Saab will be inaugurated in May in São Bernardo do Campo (SP). According to Saab, the investment will amount to nearly US$ 50 million. The project of implementation was on the agenda of discussions of the 2nd Brazil-Sweden Innovation Learning Laboratory held last week at the Technological Park of São José dos Campos (SP), by the Brazilian Agency for Industrial Development (ABDI) and the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems (Vinnova). "We already have 15 companies and universities taking part in the project. Our goal is to open the unit with at least 20 members", said technical director of Saab, Pontus De Laval.
The second edition of Innovation Learning Laboratory brought together some 70 businessmen, researchers and representatives of the Governments of Brazil and Sweden to debate opportunities of industrial cooperation. According to Laval, the initiative of Saab aims at providing both knowledge (research) and corporate (business) experiences. The R&D Center for Brazil was developed from a model used in Sweden, based on the cooperation among industry, educational institutions and Government. "The idea is to install the unit, identify the needs of the Brazilian society and develop the solutions from the diagnosis", he added.
He also said the areas of research are likely to be related to sectors such as defense, security, transportation, logistics, energy and environment. "We are talking with the Municipal Administration of São Bernardo to obtain information from companies that can work with us. We believe in the technological development of the sector in the region of ABCD, and I'm sure, after the seminars, we should announce new partnerships in the Region", says the Director of Dassault Aviation in Brazil, Jean-Marc Merialdo.
The conversations between Sweden and the industrial field of Saint Bernard are not new. For nearly one year, the Swedes have been studying the possibility of implementing European technology in the region, with an eye on wining a possible public bidding of the federal Government for the renewal of the fleet of the Brazilian Air Force (FAB), with the purchase of 36 supersonic fighters. "The arrival of the R&D center was the means the Swedish company found to get near São Bernardo do Campo, which already has a fully industrial nature and starts, little by little, to mark its territory in Brazil", said Leandro Augusto, professor of engineering aviation of FEI.
According to the professor, the city may take incalculable values from the partnership. "To try to delimit here how much good will an integrated management of technology do for São Bernardo and the region of ABC would be unwise. Besides all investments foreseen, improvement of the economy and impact of the city on a national scale, Saab may bring the ABC region several projects that reflect on the welfare of the city", said the professor.
Another example of cooperation between Brazil and Sweden is the partnership signed between the Brazilian company Vale Soluções em Energia (VSE) and the Swedish Scania, for the development, production and sale of ethanol engines and their applications. The goal is provide the use of heavy-duty commercial ethanol engines, without additives, with efficiency comparable to that of diesel engines but with extremely low CO2 emissions. The Director of Scania Latin America, Per-Arne Erickson, said Brazil is the best market for the company. "We are already selling our first ethanol buses to São Paulo and we are planning a new generation of ethanol and gas engines", he comments. Scania is also among the companies with R&D centers in Brazil.