JULY - DECEMBER 2020 ordic ight NA JOINT SWEDCHAM / NBCC PUBLICATION L The first Brazilian Gripen has arrived! WWW.SWEDCHAM.COM.BR WWW.NBCC.COM.BR ai16038191887_Scania_anuncio_210x280mm_camara_sueca_out_2020.pdf 1 27/10/2020 14:19:49 C M Y CM MY CY CMY K ai16038191887_Scania_anuncio_210x280mm_camara_sueca_out_2020.pdf 1 27/10/2020 14:19:49 JULY - DECEMBER 2020 >> contents NordicLight is a publication of Swedcham NordicLight and the Norwegian-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce 4. The first Brazilian Gripen arrives in Brasilia, where it is 6. Ambassador Johanna Brismar Skoog talks about the officially presented on Aviator’s Day. (Cover and Contents photos pandemic, the arrival of the first Brazilian Gripen, and Innovation courtesy of FAB) Weeks C M Y CM MY CY CMY K Swedcham’s Swedish Footprint shows positive 25. The Chamber has become a lessons from companies during pandemic Centerfold member of the UN Global Compact Network Brazil. 32. Interview with Ricardo Cons, 39. NBCC turns 25 in a year 42. Adonis launches South CEO of Electrolux Latin America. marked by the pandemic, when it had to American operations in Brazil to reorganize its agenda and reinvent the way better serve local customers. it works. Others 14. Business Sweden >> 18. Sweden in São Paulo >> 22. Tribute to Friedrich Hayek >> 23. World Trade Day 27. Partnership with GS1 >> 28. Brazilcham News >> 39. NBCC pages >> 52. Swedcham News >> 61. Member News 64. Human Capital Committee >> 66. Finance Committee >> 68. Legal Framework for Business Development >> Cover Story The first Brazilian Gripen has arrived! By Cristiana Pontual* hen it comes to the Gripen programme, there are many reasons which make the year 2020 memorable. The first Brazilian Gripen The Gripen on arrived in the country on Aviator’s Day. WSeptember 20 at the Navegantes harbour, in Santa Wing 1, in Brasília. During the ceremony, the fighter Catarina, on board the vessel Elke, to continue the was officially presented to the authorities. test flight campaign in Brazil. Among the ones present were the President The fighter came almost fully assembled. The of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro; Vice-President Hamilton only parts missing were the wheels of the main Mourão; the Brazilian Minister of Defense Fernando landing gear and the ejection seat. After prepara- Azevedo e Silva; the Swedish Ambassador to Brazil, tions at the harbour, at dawn on the 22nd, the Johanna Brismar Skoog; the Commander of the fighter was transported through the city, under a Brazilian Air Force, Air Lieutenant Brigadier Anto- strong military escort, to the Navegantes airport, nio Carlos Moretti Bermudez; the Commander of followed by paparazzi and curious residents, de- the Swedish Air Force, Major General Carl-Johan spite the late hour. Edström; the Chairman of the Board of Directors In the following two days, the aircraft underwent of Saab, Marcus Wallenberg; and the President and a series of ground tests and preparation for take-off CEO of Saab, Micael Johansson. at the airport. On September 24, around 2 p.m., Lt. Brig. Bermudez officially presented the Gripen the aircraft headed to the Gripen Flight Test Center with the words “The future has arrived!” At this (GFTC) at Embraer’s facilities in Gavião Peixoto (SP), moment, you could hear the loud noise of the escorted by two Brazilian Air Force (FAB) F-5 fighters. turbines and watch the Gripen crossing over the audiences’ heads. Marcus Wandt, chief test pilot at The official presentation Saab, did an impressive flight over the air base after One month after the arrival, on October 23, the the presentation of FAB’s Smoke Squadron. Upon Gripen participated in an event in celebration of landing, he was greeted by President Bolsonaro. the Aviator’s Day and the Brazilian Air Force Day at Following the tradition, the President and the Air 4 JULY - DECEMBER 2020 Force Commander baptized the first Brazilian Gripen with champagne. Besides the official presentation of the Gripen in Brasília, other important events took place there between October 22 and 27. Bilateral event at the Swedish Embassy The Swedish Ambassador to Brazil, Johanna Brismar Skoog, hosted a dinner for Swedish and Brazilian Air Force officials and Saab executives the night before Aviator’s Day, at the Swedish Embassy in Brasilia. Maj. Gen. Carl-Johan Edström, Com- mander of the Swedish Air Force, was awarded with the Order of Aeronautical Merit and received a Lt. Brig. Bermudez (Commander of the Brazilian Air Force), President Jair Bolsonaro, medal from Lt. Brig. Bermudez, Commander of the Marcus Wandt (Saab Chief Test Pilot) and Gen. Edström (Commander of the Swedish Brazilian Air Force, during the event. Air Force). “I am personally very honoured, proud and hum- bled by this award. I see it not only as a recognition “We commend the mutual respect between Brazil and Sweden, friendly for me personally, but also a recognition for the nations that have established a mutual interest in maintaining an industrial entire Swedish Air Force and our close and far- and technological partnership in matters of defense that will contribute reaching cooperation with the Brazilian Air Force,” to the strengthening of a policy of strategic alliances to enable a modern, said Maj. Gen. Edström. versatile and innovative project,” declared Lt. Brig. Bermudez. The President of Saab, Micael Johansson, said during his presentation Gripen Operational Symposium that he considered Brazil to be a strategic market for the company because, The FAB held, on Monday October 26, an Opera- in the future, Brazilian industry may sell aircraft to other countries. He tional Symposium about the Gripen for pilots and pointed out that the agreement with Brazil represented the biggest effort to generals. The event was organized by the Prepara- transfer technology to another country made by Saab. tion Command (COMPREP), at Wing 1, together “It is an important collaboration. We are not only talking about delivering with Saab, to discuss the implementation plans of 36 aircraft to Brazil, but about a collaboration between industries, between the Gripen at the FAB as well as the main charac- Air Forces and countries, to strengthen the collaboration between Brazil and teristics of the aircraft from a user point of view, to Sweden for a long time yet. I can guarantee that, as a country, our commit- pilots and members of the Fighter Aviation Air Units. ment to the programme is long-lasting”, said Johansson. This partnership started in 2014, with the signing of the contract for the Gripen fighter presented development and production of 36 Gripen E/F aircraft for the FAB, including to authorities systems, training, support and equipment. The broad technology trans- On the 27th, the Coordinating Committee of fer programme, which will take place for a period of 10 years, drives the the Combat Aircraft Program (COPAC) organized development of the local aeronautical industry through partner companies’ a workshop to inform the Brazilian authorities and participation in the Brazilian Gripen Programme. the society about the development and results of This whole process has generated one of the largest technology transfer the F-X2 project. President Bolsonaro, Vice President programs ever carried out to the FAB, and certainly the largest ever made by Mourão, ministers and commanders of the three Saab for another country. The success of this partnership represents a great armed forces, among others, attended the event. opportunity to further strengthen ties between the two countries. COPAC’s President Brig. Malta, Embraer Security and Defense CEO Jackson Schneider as well as *Cristiana Pontual is the Communications Director for the Brazilian Saab’s President and CEO Micael Johansson all Gripen Programme at Saab. made brief presentations. Nordic Light 5 Embassy Update strengthening the bonds between us. The Gripen presentation was one of the few “live” events we participated in these past months. Most of the Embassy’s and Team Swe- den’s activities were adapted to a digital reality. We have just concluded the Innovation Weeks, which this year consisted of around 35 digital events under the overarching theme of Sustain- able Innovation, and with three particular focus Ambassador Johanna Brismar Skoog during the opening of areas – Sustainable Mobility, Sustainable, Smart Sweden-Brazil Innovation Weeks 2020. and Safe Mining and Smart and Green Cities, with biogas as a huge opportunity. You can read more about the Innova- tion Weeks in the following article. Ambassador’s greeting We also celebrated the Swedish National Day online and arranged many webinars on a range of subjects – from de- The year 2020 evolved in ways few had anticipated; mocracy and freedom of the press, corporate social respon- plans were shattered, many lives lost, and we had to de- sibility, to gender equality during the Covid crisis and marine velop new ways of relating to the world. As it is coming to littering. The new format has allowed us to reach a larger an end, however, there are some signs that the worst could and at the same time more targeted audience simultane- soon be behind us. ously and all over this enormous country. Several new vaccines with a high degree of protection In many events, we have had high-level participation have been developed in record time – hopefully allowing for from Sweden, with leading personalities who would have mass vaccinations during 2021, and the medical profession had a hard time making the trip over the Atlantic during has learnt important lessons on treating the seriously ill and normal circumstances. more lives are saved now. Despite a second wave in many In the Nordic Dialogues, a cooperation initiative between countries, we see a quicker and stronger economic recovery in many parts of the world than expected, including here in Presentation of the first Brazilian Gripen. Brazil. For 2021, maybe life could start returning to some- thing resembling a pre-Covid normalcy, even if slowly.