Swiss-Brazilian internationalization

Last week, I attended an event promoted by ACATE (the Association of Tech Companies in the State of Santa Catarina), Swiss Business Hub & Swissnex. The goal was really simple and straightforward: build bridges between companies in the two countries.

Everybody knows how strong the Swiss economy is. Did you know that:

• even with the global crisis, Swiss GDP growth in 2015 was 0.9%?
• 90% of all textile machines worldwide are from Switzerland?
• 3.1% of Swiss GDP is spent on R&D?

But the main point I'd like to highlight is that a strong economy and quality of life comes from strong education. Switzerland has a great public education system, with a dual system composed by Universities of of Applied Sciences and the traditional Universities, like in Finland.

It is also interesting to note the degree of internationalization in higher education. Half of professors and PhD students are foreigners.

Presenters emphasized that internationalization is a challenge for all the actors, but it is a necessity and opportunity for all companies.