Prof. Maria Luiza Pinho - 2.25.2020Economist, Entrepreneurs, Academic and Organization Leaders reunited to elaborate on the USA - Brazil opportunitiesThe Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce of the Southeast (BACC-SE) gathered economists, entrepreneurs, academics, and organizations leaders to debate on the cross-border opportunities between the United States and Brazil. At the panel were Gabrielle Mandel (LATAM Country Manager from the United States Trade and Development), Otaviano Canuto (Principal of the Center for Macroeconomics and Development), S.Tamer Cavusgil (Professorial Chair and founding Executive Director of CIBER at Georgia State University), Pedro Furlanetto (Eucatex of North America Chief Executive Officer), Manoel Suhet (founder-partner of GBI and co-founder and CEO of bTd - Business Traveler Deals) and Ronaldo Veirano (Founding Partner of Veirano Advogados) as moderator. The panelists' focus was on the economic recovery opportunities associated with investment priorities. Consul General of Brazil in Atlanta, Carlos Henrique Moojen de Abreu e Silva opened the conference recognizing the constructive bilateral relationship between both countries crosswise. He cited some events to exemplify, such as:
The positive signs from the International Monetary Fund with a forecast of 2.2 to 2.3% economic growth for 2020 - 2021 show the country recovery. However, as remarked by Otaviano Canuto, it is still necessary to make efforts on the short-term in two significant areas - Productivity and Public sector, as well on the long term in Education and Infrastructure. He pointed also that an evolution on the "ease of doing business with Brazil" is a must, including tax reforms, harmonizing the tax base across levels of government, trade-opening measures and agreements. According to Gabrielle Mandel, although the challenges presented, there are many opportunities for North-American firms to invest and expand their richness in important Infrastructure areas, such as Transportation, Aviation, and Energy. Feasibility studies, funded by the United States, cover different areas such as technical, financial, legal, environmental, and life-cycle costs for US businesses at the early stages of project development. There are missions at both sides of the corner, or, at both poles - north and south. For example, the USTDA brings project sponsors to the US to observe the design, manufacture & operation of US products & services. A venue for economic recovery progress accounts for the Middle Class and Entrepreneurial development. The recovery of this segment demands specific products and services, as Pedro Furlanetto highlighted. Eucatex developed dedicated products aligned with those consumers' needs. Manoel Suhet reinforced this point, commenting that while firms adapt to the new norms, the entrepreneurial ecosystem has been expanding across Brazil, although opportunities for improvement remain. In his entrepreneurial venturing consultation for Brazilian small and medium entrepreneurs, he faces cultural and language barriers that can be overcome through academic and professional support. Prof. Tamer Cavusgil also pointed out that the opportunities can be exploited using BOT (build-operate-transfer) investments. The BOT contract is a model used to finance large projects, typically infrastructure projects developed through public-private partnerships. Therefore, it relieves the government from the capital commitment burden. Brazil's future should be bright. The sizable continental landscape offers opportunities for foreign firms in different industries, although there are remaining challenges for the country to reach sustainable growth and competitiveness.
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