Global trade relations: Opportunities and challenges for direct investment in Brazil

Résumé du document

Brazil is the largest and most populous country in Latin America, and the fifth largest in the world in both area and population. The country possesses a developed agriculture as well as mining and manufacturing resources, Brazil also has a large service sector forces like the banking sector, attracting more and more American financial institutions. Brazil is the Mercosur's core economy, and one of the most promising emerging countries alongside with China, India and Russia. The country has a strong growth in services and commodities sectors and daily reinforces its international presence. Major export products include aircraft, coffee, vehicles, soybean, iron ore, orange juice, steel, ethanol, textiles, footwear, corned beef and electrical equipment. Tourism is also a large resource for its diversified locations. According to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, Brazil has the ninth largest economy in the world at Purchasing Power Parity and tenth largest at market exchange rates. The Federal Republic of Brazil is aiming at stabilizing its economy and operates large investments in new equipment and technology. From this point of view, it is crucial to consider Foreign Direct Investment as a major resource for the country's development and emergence.

Extraits

[...] Global Trade Relations: Opportunities and Challenges for Direct Investment in Brazil Contents Introduction 1. PEST 2. Facts and figures 3. Why invest in Brazil? 4. Challenges Conclusion Bibliography Introduction Brazil is the largest and most populous country in Latin America, and the fifth largest in the world in both area and population. The country possesses a developed agriculture as well as mining and manufacturing resources, Brazil also has a large service sector forces like the banking sector, attracting more and more American financial institutions. [...]

[...] Growth-Accelerating Program In 2007 the government launched an important measure in order to sustain Brazil's participation on FDI inflows giving the right infrastructure for foreign investors to set up businesses in the country. The program named Growth-Accelerating Program: 2007-2010 (Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento PAC) was launched by the Ministry of Finance and it is basically a set of government actions to: Stimulate private investment; Increase government investment in infra-structure; and Remove the main obstacles to economic growth (bureaucracy, inadequate norms and regulation) The PAC is organized in five blocks which are as follow: 1. Investment in infra-structure 2. Credit and long-term finance 3. [...]

[...] In Latin America, only Venezuela and Haiti regulate business more heavily than Brazil. Starting a business is easiest in the states of Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Sul. It is most difficult in Sao Paulo, Ceara, and Maranhao. The time to start a business varies widely across states—from 19 days in Minas Gerais to 152 days in Sao Paulo. It takes 19 different steps to start a business in Ceara, and 18 in Maranhao and Santa Catarina Facts and figures[1][2] Latest developments and rankings Brazil is the main destination in terms of Foreign Direct Investments inflows in South America (i.e. [...]

[...] Another plus is the remarkable creativity and ability to adapt shown by Brazilian workers. These advances have been made possible by higher investment in education, leading to a significant rise of the level of qualifications. Infrastructure Brazil has the most extensive transport infrastructure of all BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, China, and India): 54 ports, with capacity for more than 500 million tons per year; 68 airports handling 75 million passengers per year; 31,000 km of railroads - the world's 11th-largest rail network; 1.7 million km of highways - the 3rd-largest road network in the world. [...]

[...] in terms of education policy, Asia has been able to encourage high-tech investments, which is not the case in Brazil). Moreover productivity is still quite low of the productivity of an American worker). Mc Kinsey detected four major issues affecting the Brazilian growth and attractiveness: the informal economy (black market, tax evasion, counterfeiting macroeconomic barriers (instable exchange and interest rates), poor public services (health system, education, justice, legal “insecurity”) and lacks in terms of infrastructure (transport, water and energy).[3] There are then several levels on which to act in order to make Brazil a safer place to invest. [...]