Brazil, Korea seek synergy over next five years

Brazilian Amb. Edmundo Fujita

“May the best man win”- so the old saying goes. But coming from Brazil, presently governed by a lady president, and living in Korea, whose citizens have recently chosen a woman for the highest office, I never doubted that to be successful in the globalized world of today is not an attribute of gender nor any special ties, but of merit. In electing Park Geun-hye to lead the country for the next five years, the Korean people have demonstrated their confidence in the person that they deemed most qualified to conduct the country. And the president-elect has vowed to face the economic, social and security issues ahead regardless of parti pris or stereotypes.

In order to adequately address these challenges, she will have to face not only the domestic factors but also consider the international environment, because today the linkages between internal and external elements are becoming ever more relevant to the daily life of the citizens. For market growth and employment, for instance, these links are critical because one country cannot expand and grow unilaterally without taking into account the situation of other partners. The current international situation demands the search for a “win-win” solution instead of a “zero sum” game.

In this regard, countries such as Korea and Brazil could join forces to articulate a new kind of future-oriented partnership with a view to tackling the multiple global challenges under a sustainable perspective. Relations between Korea and Brazil are gaining a dynamic momentum, and the two countries have many features that enhance a selective affinity between them, such as market size, natural resources, technological level, educational competence and non-conflicting foreign market targets.

This unique combination offers a timely opportunity for the construction of a new kind of partnership, in which both sides can improve their respective growth and quality of life through a cross fertilization of people-to-people and business-to-academia approaches.

Some seeds of such model are already germinating between Korea and Brazil, and their example could be encouraged to be replicated by other groups, especially among small and middle size enterprises. The formula is quite simple. Two enterprises, one from Korea and one from Brazil enter into a cooperation agreement to develop a new product for the local market. Once they prospect the market conditions and preferences, they arrange the support of two research institutes, one from each country, in fields where they are respectively more advanced. The institutes would conduct joint researches benefiting from different kinds of knowledge and materials from each other. They will obtain financial support from the private companies, which, in turn, would have a custom made product conceived with technology fit to the local conditions. Ultimately the joint venture would be capable of investing in new projects in both countries, providing (a) employment to improve their disposable income, (b) betterment of quality of life by acquiring these new products, (c) improvement of human resources and technology by stimulating joint research and experiences.

In order to provide the necessary consistency to this process, a dedicated educational effort must be undertaken, so that there would be a long-term continuity in terms of adequate human resources’ support. The Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff launched personally in 2011 a program called “Science without Borders”, under which many young Brazilians are coming to Korea to study at renowned universities and receiving training experience at world-class Korean companies. A first batch of about one hundred students has already returned to Brazil, many of them to be employed in Korean projects now thriving in Brazil. Other batches of similar size are expected to come to Korea every semester for the next three years. Upon their return, they will become important links between the societies of both countries and elements for a long term cooperative bilateral relations.

On the advent of the new Park Administration, it is to be hoped that cooperative projects such as “Synergistic Partnership” and “Science without Borders” will gain the firm support of Governments, business and academic institutions of both countries, as those initiatives will enhance a positive correlation between enterprises, academia, employment and education through people-to-people cooperation. And by nurturing them, the Presidents of both countries are demonstrating a meritorious foresight, because they herald the future.