ABC - Brazilian Cooperation Agency
The Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC), part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it is the sector of the Federal Government of Brazil responsible for all the International technical cooperation (CTI) established between the Brazilian Government and other countries or international organizations.
ABC has the function to negotiate, coordinate, implement and monitor programs and technical cooperation projects in Brazil, based on agreements signed by Brazil with other countries and international organizations. Among others, it’s duties include guiding the national institutions on the opportunities available under the various international technical cooperation agreements signed by Brazil, to support them in the formulation of projects, coordinate the negotiation between the cooperating institutions and the applicants, monitor and evaluate the execution of projects, as well as disclose information about its development and the results achieved.
In political terms, the role of ABC is now particularly relevant in the context of Brazilian diplomacy, becoming agent of technical cooperation provided by Brazil to an increasing number of developing countries, it has contributed in a progressive way to project a modern image of country and its institutions, consolidating a leading role in regional and international levels.
The sustained economic growth, political stability and improvement of national public policies have enabled the country to gradually reduce their regional and social inequalities, creating the platform for a more pro-active abroad, based on shared knowledge and successful development experiences.
This more assertive role in the international arena is result, on the one hand, of the long exercise of learning from projects of technical cooperation received from abroad, which resulted in the formation of exemplary organizations in the country. These entities have to act at some point as a basis for the supply of Brazilian technical cooperation to developing countries. On the other hand, Brazil's comparative advantages against other actors of international cooperation, in terms of geographic location, but also in terms of cultural heritage and common challenges in the social and economic fields, have also favored the expansion of South-southern Brazilian cooperation.
Brazil invests in agreements with developed and developing countries to absorb and disseminate knowledge applied to economic and social development. The foreign policy of Brazil now benefits from the commitment that the country had in recent decades in the field of international technical cooperation. Brazil has put into practice the concept according to which the receiving of knowledge from developed nations it’s not enough, but it is also important the share of personal experiences and knowledge with other countries that envision in partnerships the best way to achieve development.
The South-South Cooperation contributes to the consolidation of Brazil's relations with these countries, seeking to expand exchanges, generation, dissemination and use of expertise, human resources training, and especially the strengthening of institutions. According to these guidelines, ABC defined partnerships axes, among which stands out Haiti, the African Portuguese Speaking Countries (PALOP), East Timor, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Within this context, Brazil opened the trilateral cooperation through which held shares of South-South cooperation with developed countries, among which we can highlight the Brazil-Japan Partner Program (JBPP), which includes the "Third Countries Training Program"(TCTP).
The exchange of experiences and knowledge, the ultimate objective of technical cooperation, and which embodies the feeling of mutual solidarity between people, certainly not only benefits the recipient countries of the Brazilian cooperation, but also Brazil itself. The technical cooperation projects prove to be effective promoters of development. They also represent the effort of many professionals and demonstrate that once having the willingness and political will, it is always possible, even in times of challenges of various sorts, to perform activities of high socio-economic content.
In the view of the Brazilian Government, the triangular technical cooperation must respect the principles of South-South cooperation, namely: i) be "demand-driven" to respond to demands originating from developing countries, ii) not to interfere in the internal affairs of countries beneficiaries of triangular cooperation, and iii) sets no conditions for the beneficiaries. The triangular cooperation can compose comparative advantages between the involved parts: on the one hand, the dissemination of knowledge already adapted and tested in situations similar to those found in the recipient countries, on the other hand, the mobilization of more resources and technical inputs, which allows increase the scale of projects, favoring activities with greatest impacts.
The new triangular cooperation programs are being designed from a more comprehensive way in terms of scope and range of results, intending to generate structural processes that foster local development. The success of these initiatives point to an efficient model of triangular cooperation, which could be evaluated as a contribution to the debate about new paths for development.