Finep – Innovation and Research – is a public company linked to the MCTI. It was created on July 24, 1967, to institutionalize the Financing Fund for Project and Program Studies, created in 1965. Later, Finep replaced and expanded the role previously played by the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) and its Technical-Scientific Development Fund (FUNTEC), established in 1964 with the purpose of financing the implementation of graduate programs in Brazilian universities.
On July 31, 1969, the Government instituted the FNDCT - National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development, destined to finance the expansion of the systemtemS&T, having Finep as its Executive Secretariat from 1971 onwards. In the 1970s, Finep promoted intense mobilization in the scientific community, by financing the implementation of new research groups, the creation of programs temattics, the expansion of the S&T infrastructure and the institutional consolidation of research and graduate studies in the country. It also stimulated the articulation between universities, research centers, consultoria and contractors of services, products and processes.
S,T&I initiatives by companies in partnership with Scientific and Technological Institutions (ICTs), which have had great economic success, are also associated with Finep financing, such as, for example: the development of the Tucano airplane by the Brazilian Aeronautical Company (Embraer) , which paved the way for the company's aircraft to become an important item of the country's export basket; a large human resources training program in Brazil and abroad, as well as numerous projects by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) and universities, which were essential for the technological development of the systemtemthe Brazilian agricultural sector, making it one of the most competitive in the world; Petrobras' research and human resource training projects, in partnership with universities, which have contributed to the mastery of oil exploration technology in deep waters and which are making the country reach self-sufficiency in the sector.
The ability to finance the entire systemtemthat of C,T&I, combining reimbursable and non-reimbursable resources, as well as other instruments, provides Finep with great power to induce innovation activities, essential for increasing the competitiveness of the business sector.
