During his visit to the country in April last year, the UK’s chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne announced the creation of the Newton Fund, designed to strengthen research and innovation partnerships between the UK and emerging countries like Brazil. The initiative will see £375 million invested over five years and aims to promote international partnerships in development and welfare that will create leading future innovation.

The chancellor was keen to stress the importance of this partnership with Brazil at a time when UK exports to the country have increased by 54 percent over four years. “We look at Brazil and can see the notable success achieved by its scientific community. Partnerships with countries such as Brazil, who are rapidly increasing their investments in scientific research, will help strengthen ties between our countries and deliver new economic opportunities for us both”, he said.

The sentiment was echoed by Sergio Gargoni, president of Confap with whom he signed the reciprocal agreement. “This is important because of the size of the investment involved, the size of the network that we are building, the subjects that will be discussed in our research projects and the new era of cooperation between the UK and Brazil”, said Gargoni.