During a meeting between President Dilma Roussef and Prime Minister of China Wen Jiabao on latest Thursday (21), at Rio+20, the governments of Brazil and China have raised the level of their partnership for “global strategic”.
On occasion, the authorities also confirmed the decision of expanding joint efforts aimed at launching China-Brazil satellites of Earth resources CBERS-3, in 2012, and CBERS-4, in 2014, and agreed as the interest of joint work to distribute data of those satellites worldwide.
The National Institute for Space Research(Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais -INPE) in Brazil is responsible for the CBERS Program. The partnership with China for over 20 years has ensured both countries mastering the remote sensing for Earth observation technology.
Due to CBERS Program, INPE fosters technological innovation in Brazilian industry through the development of national companies of subsystems and satellite equipment.
Agreements
The president of Brazil and prime minister of China inked agreements under the Ten Year Plan for Cooperation 2012-2021, in the areas of science, technology, innovation, cooperation in space, energy, mining, infrastructure, transport, industry, financial, economic, commercial, cultural, educational and exchanges between civil societies.
Both pledged that the Plan emphasis is directly linked to cooperation in science, technology and innovation, considered fundamental to promote welfare of people and adequate international insertion of both countries in the knowledge economy. The Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Marco Antonio Raupp, attended the ceremony.
The new joint initiatives include segments such as nanoscience and nanotechnology, meteorology, environment, climate change, technologies of bamboo, clean energy and green economy, biotechnology and agricultural technologies, information and communications technologies (ICTs) and promoting dialogue between technology parks, aimed at associations between small and medium technology-based companies in both countries.
The signing of these agreements provides the creation of Brazil-China virtual centers for Meteorological Satellites and Biotechnology, which might include joint research activities in areas such as weather information, warning of natural disasters, biomedicine, bioinformatics and biomaterials. (With information from MCTI).
Source: INPE