Photo: Richard Casas / GVG

The expansion of trade relations between Santa Catarina and China was initiated during a conversation between vice-governor Marilisa Boehm and the president of the Brazil China Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIBC), Charles Andrew Tang. The meeting, which was attended by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Juliano Froehner, took place in the afternoon of this Monday, 18th, in Florianópolis.

Marilisa highlighted the work of the State Government in training workforce through the Free University and Entrepreneurial Education programs for professional qualification in partnership with Senai. She also reported the investments in the road network and the logistical facilities provided by the six ports in Santa Catarina. “This partnership with Santa Catarina is of great importance, because we want to create a modern and active government. Governor Jorginho Mello wants to bring partner companies here to join Santa Catarina. We are talking today about technology and other topics of interest to the state.”

One of the topics raised by the vice-governor was the need for a dredger factory to expand the dredging of rivers in the state. “We suffered a lot from floods throughout the year, when many municipalities were affected by them. The president of the Chamber of Commerce made himself available to bring in a specialized industry”, she mentioned. The CCIBC representative also listed as possible examples of future investments the possibility of resuming the project to install a truck factory and a high-technology park in the state to attract Chinese companies in the sector.

According to the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Juliano Frohener, this Monday’s meeting is part of the vision of governor Jorginho Mello and vice-governor Marilisa Boehm to make Santa Catarina move beyond its borders. “We are establishing strong, stable and lasting partnerships with all countries that want to interact with us. Those who want to see Santa Catarina as a stable, reliable, safe and credible partner to do business, to operate from here and to transfer technology.” He also commented that the government has interacted with many countries and economic blocs. “And China is today a partner with whom we have the largest exports and imports.”

The next step after the meeting that identified projects that are of mutual interest, said Froehner, is to make the partnership official. “We already have companies from Santa Catarina that operate in that country and we want to increase the number of Chinese companies establishing themselves here and verify joint possibilities for technological development.”

Text: Alessandro Bonassoli – Office of the vice-governor of SC