
Angélica Carretero Martín
Talent Manager, Altran, Spain
"INOV CONTACTO gives us the opportunity to develop a set activities with the added value support from qualified engineers that bring fresh ideas to an Innovation company like ours." |

Peter F. Wouters
Managing Principal, RAMBOLL ENVIRON, Madrid, Spain
"ENVIRON has participated in the INOV program since at least 5 years. Without exception we have had good internees who showed spirit and enthusiasm. We have hired several of them, and all have had the opportunity to significantly enhance their professional experience in an international context. In our opinion the INOV program is very valuable for Portugal’s bright young professionals." |

Janina Damm
Consultant, PUBLICIS, Bulgaria
"INOV Contacto has sent us very qualified, positive interns over the past 6 years and we are extremely pleased with the level of professionalism throughout the program." |

Sofia Castelbranco,
Recruitment Manager, BETTING CONNECTIONS, Malta
"INOV is a much needed program for both companies and candidates - a real talent finder and an opportunity giver. Keep up the good work." |

Bernardo Goarmon
Executive Vice President Finance, EDP Renewables North America
"I have been receiving interns from Inov since 2009 (in Poland, Brazil, Madrid and US) always with impressively consistent good results (although varying in terms of fit and performance, but clearly in all instances better than the average for a similar tenure and experience)." |

Bruno Simões
Managing Director, DOC DMC Macau
"The symbiosis has been perfect. We benefit from young professionals that are generally well prepared, ambitious, and open minded to adapt to a new work environment and culture. Interns have an intensive experience at work and behind..." |

Markus Friedlein
Commodity Manager, GRAMMER AG
"The Contacto Program is an enriching experience for our company. The two interns that we have hosted so far helped us in many ways especially in preparation of several tools which we will use in our future activities and in sourcing activities to extend our business in Portugal. The level of knowledge and skills meet our expectations and they demonstrated strong commitment to the assigned activities. I wish that this partnership between AICEP and Grammer will continue in the future." |

Jaime H. Simões
President, Louis Karno & Company Communications, LLC
"INOV's internship program has been valuable to our business. We work for a variety of Portuguese clients, and having talented young professionals who speak English well, but bring a Portuguese sensibility to the table is very valuable. It has helped us to translate content, engage audiences via social media, and rethink our approach. We also offer the interns a chance to see how we do things in the US - we take them to meetings, let them come to events, and engage them in our planning process. It has been symbiotic relationship, one that I feel had helped us to grow as a firm, and allowed a unique insight in to the U.S market to some very talented young Portuguese professionals." |

Hugo Silva
MSc , Chief Innovation Officer, PLUX – Wireless Biosignals, S.A.
"Even in today's global market, the local action is a major strategic leveraging factor for companies ramping up their international activities. INOV Contacto has been instrumental in fulfilling this role, enabling us to assume a much more effective positioning in the consolidation of external markets. The ability to place resources in other countries, with a symbiotic relation to our operational bases, establishes a privileged interaction channel and represents a true extension of PLUX abroad. The success of our partnership so far, has been further reinforced by the high trainee retention rates beyond the program." |

Lluis Roig Clement
Tribuna D’Arquitectura SL
"INOV Contacto is a very positive program both for our company as for the trainee. Recover the tradition of apprenticeship that in Spain has been lost and that due to the current economic situation would be very necessary to implement again. I congratulate you on your initiative and hope we would work together next edition." |

Isabel Liste Institut de Salud Carlos III-Espanha
"In my opinion, INOV Contacto is an excellent program, both for the persons (trainees) and for the institutions. It allows people to make contact with other cultures, different ways to work, etc., and at the same for the institutions. Many positive aspects in the organization's perspective. I think it is a very well organized program, with an open mind, the trainees are followed correctly." |

Jerome Ah-Soon
Solution & Marketing Senior Manager, Alcatel-Lucent Apac
"I am greatly satisfied with INOV Contacto program who keeps on providing excellent service and professionalism over the years. Candidates all have excellent background and great motivation. INOV Contacto program is also very efficient in handling candidate selection and travel arrangements." |

Bruno Fernandes
LatitudeN GmbH
"LatitudeN GmbH has received for the second year a trainee of the INOV Contacto Program. We believe this excellent initiative from AICEP contributes largely to generate an international perspective in terms of working methods and networking possibilities for the trainees, benefiting at the same time the company from their excellent contribution." |

Colleen Cutcliffe
Associate Scientist, Elan Pharmaceuticals
"There is a lot of competition here at Elan now that people have seen how successful
we have been with the interns that have come through our lab." |

Jochen Förster
Chief Operating Officer, Fluxome Sciences
"The INOV Contacto Programme is an excellent opportunity for us to strengthen our ongoing activities as it gives us the freedom to test additional scientific hypotheses. On the other hand, trainees have the chance to get insight into a foreign work environment, and hereby to gain work experience and to apply their university knowledge for the first time. Altogether, we clearly have a win-win situation for both the company and the trainee." |

Antonio Horta Osorio Chairman of the Totta Group
"It is when thinking about this international experience that made me a more prepared, more flexible, more complete business manager that I feel that the Contacto Programme is a clear window of opportunity for achieving wider horizons of knowledge and personal and professional growth." |

Patrick O'Connor
Hewlett Packard, Ireland
"Graduates typically learn job roles very quickly and often bring new skills to the group. Also, they have the maturity to deal straight away with customers with very little training required. They work well on their own initiative and are likely to be a welcome addition to the team." |

Jiri Paroulek Olho Technik Czech s.r.o.
"We see programs like this one very attractive for both parties. We would like to continue working closer with agencies like AICEP Global Portugal." |

João Carreira Critical Links
"Miguel (Lopo Ferreira) had a excellent performance while at Critical Links service and had a key role in setting up the office in New Jersey, including logistics, accounting, financial, and office management. I’m extremmly happy with Miguel’s performance." |

Ana García Flores
Directora de Marketing, Bial
"El programa del AICEP de Becarios en empresas Portuguesas afincadas en otros paises me parece positivo para conocer otros mercados y abre oportunidades en el mercado global." |

Paulo Magalhães
Cisco - Linksys
"The INOV Contacto Programme is an excellent opportunity for us to strengthen our ongoing activities as it gives us the freedom to test additional scientific hypotheses. On the other hand, trainees have the chance to get insight into a foreign work environment, and hereby to gain work experience and to apply their university knowledge for the first time. Altogether, we clearly have a win-win situation for both the company and the trainee." |

Emílio Rui Vilar Chairman of the Board of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
"The outstanding results of this experience attest to the quality of the candidates (and to the right selection criteria) and the excellent preliminary preparation that the programme guarantees in Portugal. Participating in the Contacto Programme also means resuming an old responsibility. Let us not forget that the first globalisation was the work of our ancestors, the Portuguese discoverers of the 16th century."
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Francisco Neto
International Financial Director, Logoplaste
"In late 1997, I joined Logoplaste through the newly established Contacto 1. Clutching my Economics diploma, I was keen to spend a few months abroad and felt safe because I knew I was in good hands. I had complete faith not only in the ICEP, which was sponsoring the programme but also in those who had created it. Of course there was a degree of uncertainty and a feeling of adventure, starting with the fact that neither Logoplaste nor I had any say in the matter. There were no interviews, job descriptions or concrete goals. It was like meeting your bride for the first time at the altar. Today, after more than five intense years abroad, I work in the International Financial Department at Logoplaste, providing support to different countries in terms of financial and commercial management and new projects, continuing a career in international management whose doors were opened to me by Contacto. It is therefore a great pleasure to see the Contacto Programme continuing. It has always inspired exclamations of genuine admiration (and a degree of envy) from all those to whom I have described it over the years." |