Editor’s note: This article was first published in September 2011. It is a news piece covering the Madrid Chamber of Commerce meeting held the week before, the 2011-2015 investment outlook, the upcoming 2014 World Cup and 2016 Rio Olympics, and Brazil’s growth slowdown.
Although Brazil has already shown its first signs of a bubble, it still has two major sporting events ahead: the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. At the business meeting held last week at the Madrid Chamber of Commerce on investment opportunities in Brazil for 2011–2015, speakers stressed the importance, necessity and profitability of strategic investments in the country.
So far, large Spanish companies have successfully taken advantage of some emerging sectors, so, according to the ambassador, it’s now time to welcome small and medium-sized businesses. The Brazilian government plans to invest more than 760 million euros in infrastructure for the two sporting events, and it also has a very ambitious project: the “Minha Casa, Minha Vida” (“My House, My Life”) programme, through which Brazil will build no fewer than 2 million homes. When it comes to construction, Spanish companies have a strong track record.
Brazil is also calling on companies in the hospitality sector, clean energy development, and airport and port construction.
Brazil is one of the emerging economies, although it’s true that, like the rest of them, it’s now growing more slowly. Even so, in the short term it’s clear that small and medium-sized businesses will be able to find some business and investment opportunities.
We’d also like to point out that what Brazil is going through now, with this construction boom, is exactly what we went through in Spain a few years ago, so you need to know when to get in, take your profits and head for shelter before the storm arrives.
Further reading
Featured image: Otávio Nogueira, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr.
