Brazilian startups in Asia: first step towards a potential partnership

Sapiens Global teams from Brazil and Japan are engaged in an action to bring Brazilian startups to Asia or, in the other way, helping investors from Japan and Southeast Asia to find projects to have a close look in Brazil.

This first step was taken in a conference call with Mr. Kival Weber, a well-known person in private and public sector as a visionary in software development and Software Quality Models. The virtual meeting was conducted at the end of September 2020, when the world is still living the COVID-19 Pandemia and experiencing uncertainties in various business sectors.

Doing Business under COVID19 in Emergent Markets

Recently, Sapiens Global’s CEO Helio Galvao Ciffoni was invited by INSEAD Singapore to explain how the company is facing the challenges and opportunities under Covid19, mainly the impact in the business in emerging markets.
As the initial talks about the Corona Virus coincided with a recent business trip to China, Helio Ciffoni positioned itself saying:

I was in China, working on a project to attract foreign suppliers when the Corona Virus showed up and our company engaged with governments and institutions in Asia, Europe and Americas to support  a business matchmaking chain, applying tools for remote negotiation. I’m sure this experience will change the way for global business.

Sapiens Global and COVID-19

It was the first week of February, 2020, when Sapiens Global team received a demand from our partners in China, seeking for help on finding masks and other devices for hospitals. At that time, the Chinese industry was closed temporarily, in order to better understand and contains the virus spreading. It was a localised situation in China, with some spots in South Korea and in Japan. The world didn’t expected what was coming a few weeks later.
Our team in Brazil contacted local factories and distributers and we could help our partners in China, Singapore and Japan to import protection masks. Weeks later, Europe was in the middle of the Corona Virus situation and very soon it was decreed as a pandemia by the World Health Organization. Soon our efforts were back to China, sourcing for protective devices to send to Portugal and then, to Brazil. The market was uncontrolled: prices rising overnight, devices disappearing from distributors.
Government officials from Brazil and Portugal asked for help but it was not so much for us to do. Digging deeply in China, we came across new factories and exporters, creating new channels for Brazilian, Portuguese, Singaporean, Japanese and many others to find suppliers for their necessity.
Our team is now with 70% of its capacity dedicated to help buyers and sellers, using all our strength and experience in Business Matchmaking, playing in the fields of logistics, financial and mainly as a trade facilitator to accelerate the process to move the essencial merchandise across continents, helping to avoid abusive trade behaviour and malpractice in business.
Thanks to our business partners around the world and to our dedicated team, we are joining efforts to surpass this situation very soon.
The pictures show the first cargo from Brazil to China, a total of 16,500 masks and the arrival of 165,000 masks in Singapore. Masks from Brazil arriving in Singapore: 165,000 masks

3C3C – Three Cities, Three Continents

A new platform for cultural interchange and innovation in trade was created by Sapiens Global, connecting the cities of Barcelos (Portugal), Dongguan (China) and Maringá (Brazil). A Chinese mission with 15 people met 15 Portuguese and 5 Brazilian entrepreneurs in Barcelos. From June 10th to 12th, the government representatives of the three cities and the entrepreneurs discussed trading, tourism and technology development. About 16 business opportunities are under development by Sapiens Global, along with DYEA (Dongguan Young Entrepreneurs Association), ACIB (Associação Comercial e Industrial de Barcelos) and CODESUL (Agência de Integração e Desenvolvimento do Sul do Brasil).