TozziniFreire, in partnership with Plug and Play, gathers specialists in Collaborative Innovation between Brazil and China at its office
In collaboration with Plug and Play, the largest startup accelerator in Silicon Valley, and with the support of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Brazil and CPFL Energia, TozziniFreire Advogados’ Asia Desk partners hosted a meeting on August 26, 2024 at its headquarters in São Paulo. The event brought together experts in international trade relations to discuss the business and innovation ecosystem between Brazil and China.
The event was attended by prominent academic leaders, government officials, and business representatives from various sectors, including technology, telecommunications, infrastructure, energy, investments, education, and food, among others. The sessions featured a series of interesting discussions and debates, providing an important exchange of experiences.
The event started with a welcome from Marcelo Calliari, partner and head of TozziniFreire Antitrust practice, highlighting the firm's role in advising Chinese and Brazilian companies on bilateral investments and business. Marcelo emphasized TozziniFreire’s experience in identifying trends and implementing innovative projects, as well as the firm’s tradition and expertise in managing international business, particularly with China.
Paulo Eduardo Padula, CEO of Plug and Play Brazil, presented the platform’s background and how the accelerator supports companies with an international vision for innovation and access to new technologies. He highlighted the partnership with CPFL on a robust project that directly impacts the Brazilian energy sector. Paulo stated, "In addition to developing the innovation program, the hub aims to expand the scope of searching for available solutions worldwide and, at the same time, build governance, align corporate strategies, and create a major innovation bridge between Brazil and China, bringing and ‘localizing’ the best of Chinese technology applicable to infrastructure and energy projects in Brazil."
Mariana Bahia, Executive Director of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Brazil, which aims to facilitate and promote trade relations between Brazil and China, emphasized the cultural and language differences in this type of project that require excellence in processes such as testing and technical translations. She stated, "China is part of our daily lives, and this will only continue to grow; a good commercial relationship with Chinese entrepreneurs requires earning their trust by correctly following the sequence of events."
Rafael Moya, Innovation Manager at CPFL Energia, shared his experience in developing innovative projects in the electrical and renewable energy sectors with China, particularly in the successful microgrid project in Brazil. This project, in partnership with Hexing, enabled the use of Chinese technologies in the implementation of sustainable microgrids on the University of Campinas (Unicamp) campus. He noted that the project's success, which took four years to develop, was also due to the collaboration between the private sector, which accelerated actions, and Unicamp, which provided technical depth through its academic environment.
João Ribeiro da Costa, partner at TozziniFreire in the Corporate and Foreign Investment area, highlighted the importance of legal assistance in the internationalization of businesses and innovation projects between the two countries. Using the CPFL case as an example, he noted that such projects demand full attention to regulatory, legislative, and tax matters, including new regulations from ANEEL (Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency). He also emphasized Brazil’s recent efforts to encourage foreign investment through recent changes that promote incentives, benefits, and efficiency in bilateral business.
In a relaxed atmosphere, panelists and guests concluded the meeting by sharing the main challenges, lessons learned, and opportunities in the business ecosystem between Brazil and China during an engaging networking session.
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