A senior Brazilian diplomat is calling for more Chinese
enterprises to invest in Brazil, the largest economy in Latin
America.
Roberto Jaguaribe Gomes de Mattos, undersecretary-general for
political affairs of the Brazilian Ministry of External Relations,
said in a recent view that "Chinese investment in Brazil can
increase significantly."
Recommending the sectors of mineral resources, energy, primary
products, information technology, pharmaceuticals, paper pulp,
agribusiness and iron and steel to potential Chinese investors, he
said: "I see tremendous opportunities (for Chinese investment in
Brazil)."
According to figures from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce,
Chinese enterprises invested nearly US$100 million in Brazil by the
end of June this year, largely in industries like mining,
telecommunications, trade, services, lumber processing and assembly
line production of household electrical appliances.
Meanwhile, Brazilian investment in China hit US$210 million,
most of it going to the manufacturing, real estate and hydropower
industries.
But in terms of the gigantic size of the Chinese economy, the
nation's investments in Brazil seem quite small.
Brazil takes a leading position in the world in the sectors of
renewable energy resources, civil aviation, agribusiness, paper
pulp and minerals - where Chinese investors have great
opportunities.
Regarding bilateral trade, Mattos said that China is one of
Brazil's most important trade partners in Asia.
In Asia, "Japan is a traditional partner, India is a new
partner, but China is a very significant partner," he noted.
Trade between China and Brazil hit US$12 billion in the first
half of 2007, a year-on-year increase of 30.1 percent, according to
statistics from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.
Brazil is now one of China's main suppliers of iron ore and
soybean and China a fast-growing supplier of electronic goods and
components to the South American nation.
Bilateral trade reached US$20.3 billion last year.
In Brazil, the continuous appreciation of its currency against
foreign currencies, economic growth and domestic income hikes have
helped boost imports, including those from China.
As a result, Brazilian supermarket shelves are increasingly
filled with imported products, especially goods from China, which
has enabled ordinary consumers in Brazil to have access to
electronic products and other cheaper items.
Although some in Brazil express concern at the rise in exports
of Chinese-manufactured products to their country, this trend has
been mostly beneficial for Brazil, to the extent that it has
reduced costs in their industry and made it more competitive
internationally.
Mattos said the two countries are enjoying a very close
partnership and Brazil is a very good partner of China in the
Americas.
"We are ready to reach a rich level of bilateral relations," he
noted.
To further enhance mutual understanding and bilateral relations,
he said that the two countries should increase high-level visits,
covering government authorities, media, businesses, culture and
trade unions.
In the international political arena, the two countries have
cooperated on important issues, especially related to topics of
great significance for developing countries, such as WTO trade
negotiations, development financing, and the struggle against
poverty.
Brazil and China can help each other on issues like climate
change, biodiversity, global warming and biofuel, he said.
"We both believe dialogue is the best procedure to deal with
world issues."
Satellite program
Sources at the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research
(INPE) based in Sao Jose dos Campos said recently that Brazil and
China may continue their cooperation in earth resources satellite
programs after the current program is completed in a couple of
years.
The two countries started the China-Brazil Earth Resources
Satellite Program (CBERS) after signing an agreement in July 1988
and have since launched their first two joint satellites - CBERS-1
and CBERS-2 - both of which have experienced great success.
Given the success of the cooperation, Brazil and China decided
to continue their CBERS program by signing a new agreement in
November 2002 for the manufacture and launch of two new satellites
- CBERS-3 and CBERS-4.
With improved characteristics and more advanced design, the two
new remote sensing satellites are expected to be launched in 2008
and 2010 respectively.
Agricultural co-op
Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) is willing
to explore new frontiers of cooperation with its Chinese
counterparts.
As China and Brazil are both large countries featuring
diversified agricultural products, there exist enormous
opportunities for the further tapping of cooperation potential.
Headquartered in Brasilia, the capital city of Brazil, Embrapa
plays an important role in helping Brazil increase food supply
while conserving natural resources and the environment, and
diminishing external dependence on technologies, basic products and
genetic materials.
Federation of Banks
Founded in 1967, the Brazilian Federation of Banks is a
professional organization and the principal representative of the
country's banking sector.
Its 119 members, out of a total of 164 banking institutions (as
of January 2004), hold 95 percent of the total assets in the
system, which strengthens its role as a mouthpiece for banks in
Brazil.
Activities of the federation are designed to promote continuous
enhancement and upgrading of the Brazilian banking system.
Medical research
The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Rio de Janeiro is the largest
biomedical research institution in Latin America.
As a multi-pronged and multi-disciplinary center in medical
research, the foundation performs a very relevant social role for
Brazil.
It has carried out exchanges with Chinese medical organizations
in recent years.
Central Bank of Brazil
Banco do Brasil or the Central Bank of Brazil carries out the
functions of a government bank: controlling foreign trade
operations; executing foreign exchange operations on behalf of
public sector enterprises and the National Treasury - the currency
issuing authority of Brazil; executing the rules set forth by the
Currency and Credit Superintendent and the Bank for Agricultural,
Industrial and Commercial Credit; and receiving reserve
requirements and voluntary deposits of commercial banks.
Deepwater exploration
Over three decades ago, few companies considered it commercially
feasible to explore for oil and gas in reserves located in the
ocean at depths of over 1,500 m.
Nowadays, most of the oil produced in Brazil is prospected in
marine soil: 60 percent of the 1.9 million barrels of oil
equivalent per day produced by Petrobras, the Brazilian oil
company, comes from offshore fields located at depths of between
300 and 1,500 m.
Another 5 percent comes from offshore fields located at depths
greater than 1,500 m.
With new technologies to explore and produce oil and gas at
depths of 3,000 m being the latest development in the field, one of
the goals for the years to come is testing such technologies.
Petrobras' technology is developed largely at CENPES, the
largest center for research and development in Latin America.
CENPES research projects are developed either exclusively by the
center or in association with universities, companies, and research
institutions all over the world.
Leading in ethanol
A world leader in the use of ethanol fuel, Brazil has more than
5 million vehicles designed to run exclusively on ethanol, a
renewable energy source.
Compared with fossil fuels, ethanol produced from sugarcane
provides more environmental benefits, according to the Brazilian
Sugar Cane Industry Association based in Sao Paulo.
Use of ethanol as a fuel reached 13.4 million cubic meters in
2006 in Brazil, representing about 40 percent of the fuel used in
motor vehicles with spark ignition engines that year, with around
50 percent of Brazil's sugarcane output that year being used for
ethanol production.
(China Daily December 28, 2007)
