German-Brazilian Business Fair in Vitória 2009

Since 1999 AFO has regularly been invited to take part in the German-Brazilian Business Fair held either in Germany or in Brazil. This year the fair was held in the Brazilian state of Espírito Santo, in the city of Vitória, with thousands of German and Brazilian companies present. The German-Brazilian Business Fair has developed into the most important bilateral business event between the two countries. This year the motto was “Mobility, Energy Security and Climate Protection – Challenges for Politics and Business”. President Lula of Brazil made it clear that collaborations on technology with Germany were of considerable interest to his country. As the representative of the only German university present, AFO was very pleased to be there and was able to make new contacts as well as expand and strengthen existing ones.

German-Brazilian Business Fair in Cologne

In 2008 the annual German-Brazilian Business Fair took place in Cologne from 24 to 26 August. WWU was represented by AFO with its own stand for this year’s topic “Mobility, Energy Security and Climate Protection – Challenges for Politics and Business”. Those present included North Rhine Westphalia’s premier Jürgen Rüttgers and the Brazilian deputy foreign secretary Samuel Pinheiro Guimarães. As it was the only university invited, WWU attracted participants’ attention. The impact of the contacts made here could be felt a short while later at the ‘Bioforum’ in São Paulo. This very positive experience of participating in the business fair made AFO decide to take part in the next business fair held, to be in Brazil.