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The 23rd Brazil-Germany Business Encounter and the 32nd Meeting of the Brazil-Germany Economic Cooperation Commission got underway, yesterday, July 4, in Fortaleza, in Northeastern Brazil.
The meeting is discussing the expansion of investments between Brazil and Germany, as well as bilateral trade, and technological exchange.
At the opening session, the Brazilian Minister of Development, Industry, and Foreign Trade, Luiz Fernando Furlan, gave a speech on investment priorities in Latin America (the IIRSA Project), investment opportunities in Brazil, and the internationalization of Brazilian companies.
The German Minister of Economy and Labor, Wolfgang Clement, is also participating in the event.
"Investing for Growth" is the central theme of the two meetings, which end today and are being attended by around a thousand people, between government officials and entrepreneurs from the two countries.
The meetings are sponsored by the National Confederation of Industry (CNI) and the Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie (BDI), the German counterpart of the CNI.
In his speech, Furlan highlighted the potential of Brazilian ethanol. Brazil and Germany are starting a program for the use of ethanol and biodiesel as additives to gasoline and diesel oil, respectively.
The sector that most interests the Germans is energy, including alternative sources, such as wind and biodiesel. Other sectors that could attract German capital are port facilities, transportation logistics, and telecommunications.
Trade flows between Brazil and Germany amounted to US$ 9.1 billion in 2004 and have already attained US$ 4.3 billion through May of this year.
The Germans mostly import soybeans, iron ore, and coffee from Brazil and sell machinery and equipment in return. The purpose of the meetings is to diversify this business by opening new areas.
One of them is tourism, an area in which German investments are still small. This was the reason Fortaleza was chosen to host the encounter.
After the tragedy of the tsunamis in Asia, Brazil - especially the Northeast of the country - became even more alluring to foreign tourists.
ABr - www.radiobras.gov.br
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