The delegation also included the Deputy Head of Mission, Minister Elza Moreira Marcelino de Castro and the Head of the Economic and Trade Sections, Counsellor João Carlos Parkinson de Castro.
The visit to UCC, organised by the International Education Office on behalf of the President’s Office, was co-ordinated by the Lord Mayor’s office and Brazil Euro Enterprises. A Cork-based company, Brazil Euro Enterprises provides logistical support to Brazilian companies investing in Ireland and Irish companies investing in Brazil.
The Brazilian delegation are in Cork on a fact-finding tour to view the facilities available to Brazilian companies here. They visited the University to learn more about the research taking place in the areas of Science and Technology. Brazil is currently investing heavily in research and development.
Following their meeting with the Deputy President, the delegation received a tour and overview of the Tyndall National Institute and met two of Tyndall’s Brazilian staff members. All were particularly impressed with the facilities and research being carried out and expressed a strong interest in working to develop concrete links between Brazilian research institutes, Universities and private companies and UCC. On departing, Mr Parkinson commented on the “need to highlight to our companies and institutes back home, the excellent opportunities for collaboration between Tyndall and UCC and Brazil”.
The visit was preceded that morning by a reception at the Chambers of the Lord Mayor of Cork with Mr Batt O’Keeffe, TD, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation welcoming the guests to Cork. Minister O’Keeffe stressed the facilities available to interested Brazilian companies including our skilled workforce and the strengths of the third-level institutions. In particular, he highlighted Tyndall’s reputation for research, development and innovation. Minister O’Keeffe will lead a Trade Mission to Brazil in November which will include a strong education and research focus.
This visit also comes only one month after UCC welcomed a senior Brazilian Government and University delegation. The aim of that particular visit was to identify common interests in education between our two countries and explore possible areas of co-operation.
Picture: Back row L-R: Val Cooke, Mary Horgan, Brendan McAuliffe, Tanya Mulcahy, Professor John Morrison, Frances Lynch, Tom Kingston. Front Row: Minister Elza Moreira Marcelino de Castro, HE Mr Pedro Fernando Brêtas Bastos, Professor Patrick Fitzpatrick, Counsellor João Carlos Parkinson de Castro.
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