Delivering the keynote speech, Makovec Brenčič stressed that Slovenia was very interested in boosting cooperation and presented to participants Slovenian research institutions, centres of excellence and competence, the Technological park, the Slovenian Research Agency and ministries connected to science.

"Slovenia is striving for close cooperation in the triangle of knowledge formed by research institutions, knowledge institutions and the economy," added the minister, who presented the Slovenian government's key guidelines in science and research by 2020.

According to a press release from the Education Ministry, participants, including representatives of the Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro universities, agreed that there was ample opportunity and interest for boosting cooperation.

The conference was held in the Rio Business House and was the first in the line of events organised for Slovenian and Brazilian executives, researchers and state representatives.

Slovenia and Brazil started cooperating in 1998 while the two countries signed an agreement on cooperation in science in 2007. There were seven bilateral research projects in environment, technology, agriculture and medicine in 2012-2014. More recently, cooperation has been under way under the EU research and innovation project Horizon 2020.