Xiamen Victwo BizTech Co., Ltd. (Xiamen BRICS+ Technology Accelerator) held a virtual meeting on March 7th, 2023 with the Brazil-based Associcao Catarinense de Tecnologia (ACATE). The two organizations will work together to seek the support of the Xiamen municipal government in establishing a service office in Xiamen, which will provide assistance to technology companies in Santa Catarina seeking to enter the Chinese market, as well as to assist Xiamen-based and Chinese technology companies in pushing into the Brazilian market. The meeting was addressed by Mr. Henrique Bilbao, Vice President of the ACATE, while Mr. Luis Soresen from ACATE also gave a brief introduction to the association's entrepreneurial plan, followed by the association's international development strategy presented by Mr. Lisandro Vieira. Mr. Li Ming, Deputy Director of the Office of Xiamen Leadership Group for BRICS PartNIR Innovation Center, gave a speech introducing how the office has contributed significantly to the cooperation in innovation activities between China and other BRICS member states since its founding. Ms. Wang Lei, Director of the Mass Entrepreneurship and Innovation Division of XMTORCH Management Committee, introduced the business environment of Xiamen and the cooperation opportunities offered in the Xiamen Torch Development Zone for High Technology Industries (XMTORCH).
At the end of the event, Mr. Huo Jianming, an adjunct professor at Xiamen University of Technology, delivered a training session entitled "Practical Strategies for Entering the Chinese Market" to representatives from nearly 80 Brazilian companies who participated in the online training session.
Since the establishment of the BRICS PartNIR Innovation Center in Xiamen, ACATE has been the first technology association from BRICS member states seeking to establish a representative office in Xiamen to assist its member companies in entering the Chinese market. ACATE's representative office in Xiamen will contribute greatly to the fruitful investment cooperation between technology parks and enterprises in China and Brazil.
Associcao Catarinense de Tecnologia (ACATE)
ACATE has been established for 36 years and boasts a sprawling network of over 1,500 member companies, taking pride in its 10 regional centers, 11 Verticals, 6 innovation centers, and a multitude of technology-driven development projects in the Santa Catarina state. According to UBI Global's 2018 and 2019 rankings, the MIDITECH incubator under ACATE was one of the top five technology incubators globally.
According to the ACATE Tech Report, Santa Catarina state is Brazil's fourth-largest technology hub. In 2020, the industry generated a staggering 19.8 billion Brazilian reals in revenue, accounting for 6.1% of the state's GDP, surpassing the states of Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro. This remarkable achievement can be attributed to the presence of more than 17,700 companies spread throughout the state, which directly employ 67,800 professionals.
Apart from overseeing a vast network of innovation centers, ACATE has established representative offices in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Boston, USA, to provide continuous support to businesses operating in Santa Catalina state. The Xiamen representative office will be the third representative office established by ACATE outside the Santa Catarina state and its first representative office in China.
