The two institutions are going to establish a new model of technical-scientific cooperation that will include the private sector A meeting held last Friday (24) between the president of Embrapa, Celso Moretti, and the director of the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC), Ruy Pereira, sealed the renewal of a partnership to perfect technical-scientific cooperation actions promoted by the two institutions. The meeting was held at Embrapa's Headquarters and counted on the participation of managers and technicians from the Agency and from Embrapa's international section. Initially the meeting aimed at bringing the teams up to the same speed, checking any pending points in projects at concluding stages, and discussing priorities for the elaboration of future projects. Ambassador Ruy Pereira said that Embrapa's recent participation in a mission to the Arab Emirates gave rise to “a series of opportunities for Brazil in the African, Middle East and Southwest Asian markets”. Ruy Pereira informed that, from now on, Embrapa will be asked to be involved in all ABC missions that have a S&T or agricultural component. Moretti called attention to the need for technical-scientific cooperation activities to comprehend the presence of the Brazilian private sector, “opening opportunities for national products in new international markets.” Ruy Pereira suggested that the two institutions propose a cooperation model that strongly involves the national private sector. ABC's director highlighted that he has been heading the Agency for over a year and that it was the third time that he resorted to Embrapa - “a clear indication of the relevance and the importance that it has for the national technical cooperation system.” He also commented that at Embrapa's headquarters he saw the slogan Agriculture moved by Science, “To me it seems like a very rare and fortuitous synthesis of what Embrapa has been doing for decades for the economic and social development of Brazil. It is the essence, the synthesis of the international perception of the corporation's image", he assessed. The researcher Eliana Covolan, Embrapa's International Strategic Relations manager, and ambassador Demétrio Bueno Carvalho, coordinator of Planning and Communication at ABC, were appointed as focal points responsible for strengthening the relationship and establishing a mechanism of permanent consultation between the two institutions. They will also analyze ongoing technical cooperation projects and existing demands for future ones. United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Mozambique were some countries mentioned in the meeting whose requests have already been recorded. Other participants in the meeting including, on ABC's side, Celso Arruda França, deputy coordinator of Humanitarian Cooperation; Alessandra Ambrosio, coordinator of technical cooperation; Cecília Gonçalves Malaguti de Souza do Prado, coordinator of Trilateral Technical Cooperation with International Organisms; Delourdes Alves, coordinator of Planning, Administration, Budget and Communications; Marcio Correa, Coordinator of Multilateral Technical Cooperation; Maria Augusta Ferraz, coordinator of Technical Cooperation with Latin America, Caribbean and Western Europe; Nelci Caixeta, coordinator of Technical Cooperation with Africa, Asia and Oceania; Paulo Lima, coordinator of Technical Cooperation; and Wofsi Iuri Souza, coordinator of Technical Cooperation and Partnership with Developed Countries. The other attendees from Embrapa were advisors to the president Edmeia Andrade, Kepler Euclides and Sério Folle; and the researchers Michelline Lins and Rodolfo Oliveira, Multilateral Relations of the International Strategic Relations section of the Secretariat of Intelligence and Strategic Relations. Translation: Mariana Medeiros