and the Brazilian Chamber of the Construction Industry to open an innovation centre in Brasilia, the country’s capital. The partnership is funded by Brazil’s federal government, and aims to establish national and international standards to help modernise and transform the local construction industry. “Construction represents 13 per cent of Brazil’s GDP,” says BRE’s international activities manager Orivaldo Barros. “The traditional Portuguese and Spanish building methods currently used are not sustainable. There is a defi cit of 7m homes in the social housing sector and an area of 1.5sqm is currently being developed in São Paulo alone. The research innovation platform that we are creating in Brasilia will promote opportunities and help UK and Brazilian SMEs to work together.”

BY THE NUMBERS In 2010, Brazil’s economy grew by 7.5 per cent and predictions for 2011 and 2012 stand at around three per cent. With a population of 200m, Brazil is a huge market and the past 10 years have seen the emergence of a middle class with increased purchasing power. “The scale of opportunities here is massive and growing rapidly at a time when most of the world has much slower growth or indeed no growth at all,” says Whalley.

ENERGY BONANZA

Oil and gas is an important sector in Brazil. The country is the largest energy market in South America and has the continent’s second-largest oil reserves after Venezuela. Brazil achieved net oil self-suffi ciency in April 2006 as production reached 1.88m barrels of oil per day. Now, the country is producing more than 2m barrels a day, with more than 80 per cent of production coming from the Campos Basin. Signifi cant discoveries are being made in the Santos and Espirito Santo basins in the southeast of Brazil. Specialists estimate that the pre-salt offshore area in the country may contain 56bn barrels of oil, which could position Brazil as the sixth- largest oil and gas producer in the world. State-run Petrobras is still the dominant player, but the end of state monopoly in 1997 attracted many international companies, including Shell, BG, BP, Exxon, Statoil and Chevron.

LUXURY MARKET Brazil is one of the world’s biggest markets for luxury brands and imported goods are equated with glamour and prestige. This sector is fuelled by the wealthy elite and a growing middle class with increasing spending power. Import taxes are high, but consumers are prepared to pay infl ated prices.

“Geographically, the country is vast and those new to the market need to focus on one region to start,” says Whalley. “The UK Trade & Investment team can produce research for UK companies and give advice on market entry.” With São Paulo as the commercial capital and Rio de Janeiro Brazil’s second-largest city in terms of population and GDP, much activity is based in the southeast of the country. However, the northeast region around Recife is growing rapidly. A new British Consulate-General was opened there last November, highlighting its status as an expanding and vibrant business hub. At the inauguration ceremony, Foreign

Offi ce Minister Jeremy Browne said: “The UK wants to strengthen its relationship with Brazil and the rest of Latin America and this Consulate-General is a concrete example of these intentions. “At over US$2trn, Brazil is the world’s seventh-largest economy and represents almost half of South America’s total GDP. We must engage with this emerging and increasingly infl uential market. There are impressive opportunities here and the UK is keen to reach out and take them.” ■

“THE SCALE EXPANDING EDUCATION

MANCHESTER-BASED NCC Education works with institutions around the world to deliver UK courses locally. In 2010, the company turned its attention to the potential of Brazil. Having successfully worked with UK Trade & Investment in other markets, NCC Education commissioned an Overseas Market Introduction Service (OMIS) report to identify potential teaching partners in the region. The report highlighted 25 potential partners. One of these was Pentagono College, a private high school teaching more than 2,500 students across three campuses in São Paulo. One campus already offered an American programme of international study and adding

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a UK component would make the school truly international. Early last year, Andrew Malley, senior business development manager at NCC Education, fl ew to Brazil to meet Pentagono’s management team. The meeting was a great success, with a partnership agreement subsequently signed. “Brazil has strong ties with Europe and a

real respect for British academia,” says Malley. “Without UK Trade & Investment support it would have undoubtedly taken us much longer and several more trips to fi nd a suitable partner. We have had similar exciting results in Russia,

Costa Rica and Panama.” nccedu.com