Biocat participates in seminar to advise Brazilian government on cluster policy

By Biocat

Since 2008, the European Union and Brazil have carried out more than 60 cooperation initiatives, under the joint program Sector Dialogs, to share knowledge and experience in areas of mutual interest like science and technology, public-sector governance, social development and employment, human rights, and sustainable development, among others.

Biocat was the Catalan organization invited to participate in the workshops on governance and European and Brazilian cluster models in various sectors, which was held on 13 and 14 November at the headquarters of the Ministry for Development, Industry and Trade in Brasilia. From Brazil, the clusters represented were Minas Gerais (through the Association of Biotechnology and Life Science Companies), São Paulo (through Riberao Preto), Pernambuco, Parana, Recife and Amazonas. From the European Union, in addition to the BioRegion of Catalonia, there were also representatives from the IT, media and cinema cluster in Baden-Württemberg (Germany) and the mechanics cluster in Reggio Emilia (Italy). Experts from the European Commission also participated, including Reinhard Buescher from the Directorate General for Industry, as well as representatives from various Brazilian academic institutions, banks and state agencies.

Mamen Martí, Biocat project manager, explained the international recognition achieved by the BioRegion of Catalonia, the Catalan bioscience and medical technology cluster. Catalonia currently accounts for 21% of the Spanish biotechnology industry and half of the business fabric in medical technology. In the Catalan bioregion there are 481 companies, 80 research centers, 15 hospitals and 12 universities, and research of excellence is carried out in nanomedicine, genomics, pharmacology and agrifood. “Biocat’s cluster model includes all the stakeholders in the ecosystem. In a sector like ours, we can't separate the different parts of the value chain,” remarked Martí.

Martí also explained that Biocat, as the body that promotes and coordinates the cluster, plays a noteworthy role in the development of public/private consortia, as they are considered a key factor in transforming the bio sector in this country. “We want to be an active player and foster dialog among all the stakeholders in our system,” she commented during the sessions.

In Brazil, the Sector Dialogs program is coordinated jointly by the Ministry for Planning, Budgets and Management and the Delegation of the European Union.

In September, Biocat participated in a mission to Brazil, one of the main actions in the bioXclusters project (2012-2014), which aims to strengthen and promote international competitiveness of SMEs in Catalonia, Rhône-Alps (France), Bayern (Germany) and Piedmont (Italy) in three strategic markets: Brazil, the United States and China. The bioXclusters website includes a report on Brazil and other related information.