Despite the recent economic slowdown, Brazil continues to attract steady foreign direct investments (FDI), and Japanese firms are advised to consider the medium- to longer-term importance of the Latin American market and competition with Chinese and South Korean rivals when making business decisions, said participants in a recent seminar in Tokyo.
Brazil's Ambassador to Japan Marcos Bezerra Abbott Galvao and Yasushi Ninomiya, assistant director of the Latin American division at Japan External Trade Organization's Overseas Research Department, were speaking at the Oct. 24 seminar organized by the Keizai Koho Center.
In his overview of the Brazilian economy, Ambassador Galvao explained how the sustained growth in recent years has moved a significant share of the low-income group into the middle class. Its growth is the slowest among the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) emerging powers, and GDP growth this year is estimated to be 1.5 percent, he noted.