On April 10, the government of Santa Catarina completed 100 days of management. During this period, among the actions of the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (SAI), the support to the Agro area, intergovernmental and transversal activities with civil society and the academic community, plus with international relations stand out.

“The Secretariat becomes a PMO (project management office), evolving from a middle activity to a core activity. In this way, it opens up a wider range of possibilities in terms of coordinated and centralized execution of projects and implementation of opportunities to gain scale, such as support for Governor Jorginho Mello and the State in international matters, foreign trade and attraction of investments; in addition to aiding international companies to enter Santa Catarina and the activities of those already headquartered here,” says SAI secretary, Juliano Froehner.

Among the activities to support Agro, informs Froehner, an important priority for the State is for SAI to support and monitor the entire process of creating a rural internet program to benefit the sector and farmers. “We are lining up an easy package for Santa Catarina as a ‘special customer’ for rural internet via satellite. We have already talked to some companies and we are in advanced negotiation about the best model to be used”.

Other alignments in this sector are the expansion of foreign trade with other markets; obtaining international know-how for primary education for teaching entrepreneurship through aquaponics and agro technology for children; the use of the financial market of partner countries to obtain payment for the maintenance of green areas in SC via carbon credits and public areas of the State, such as state parks; and the defense for removing the apple subject from the federal travel agenda for China.

Hub “We are a SC towards the world”

As part of ongoing intergovernmental actions, the following stand out: negotiations with dredger manufacturers to bring them to public and private ports in order to reduce the cost of dredging – a Dutch dredger is under analysis by the Board of Directors, an Indian one, about which there has already been a conversation with the Indian Ambassador in Brasilia, and a Chinese one under negotiation; adherence to the UN Global Compact as a way of confirming recognition of the ESG principles and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals; and negotiations for the sponsorship of the Public Prosecutor’s Office for a project to use German technology to transform sanitation companies into energy generators (biogas) through a biodigester for human waste with a fertilizer by-product.

Prospects

“We also carried out transversal actions, such as the partnership established with Jucesc to transform the Mercosur Space into a Foreign Affairs Space, installing the Itinerant Consular Service of Japan” and soon other consulates, informs the secretary. Other articulations made by SAI, which can count on the benefits of the government program to attract investments InvestSC, are the confirmation of the installation of the Chinese company of lithium batteries, and the prospections in progress with companies of the international textile sector, children’s theme park, a glass company for electronic equipment, a company for four solar plants and integrated logistics with green hydrogen, and an air logistics company to enable the export of perishable products such as oysters and fruit growing. Prospects are also under way in the oil and gas sector.

International relations

The Secretariat’s recent participation as a supporter at FIN Brasil – International Business Fair 2023 – resulted in cooperation agreements and partnerships with companies from 45 countries that attended the event. “In the wake of ongoing partnerships with countries such as Germany, Austria, Japan, the United States, Luxembourg and Canada, we held meetings with representatives of various nations, with emphasis on approaching the Secretary for Internationalization of Portugal (equivalent to Minister) and with the head of mission at the Embassy of Singapore in Brazil. And we also include – together with the Brazil-Portugal Chamber of Commerce and the Beiras Region – 300 stands of companies and institutions dedicated to working on imports, exports and investments with SC”, says Froehner.

Project management

Actions with civil society and the academic community are also part of the activities of the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs. SAI will soon begin to open calls, in a continuous flow, to receive proposals, suggestions, projects, ideas, partnerships, interactions, dialogues and innovative initiatives coming from the academic community, the international relations community, the foreign trade community and society as a whole via crowdsourcing (open innovation and interaction with the public).