France seeks more room in Brazilian economy
O Estado de S. Paulo 04/22/2009
The Year of France in Brazil, officially commenced yesterday, with an event in Rio will not be made of art only. A real commercial offensive will be promoted together with the cultural agenda. More than 600 companies have been invited by the Government of France to promote the French economy in 40 meetings that will be held until November, gathering the most important entrepreneurs of France, as well as small and medium enterprises. The purpose is to make the companies of the country to grow in the largest market of Latin America.
The commercial aspect of France's Year in Brazil is organized by the Minister of Economy and by the Secretariat of Foreign Trade, in Paris. The idea is to increase the number of companies that are already established in Brazil - 360, among which are 35 of the 40 largest French conglomerates - facilitating the access of medium, small and micro enterprises to Brazilian markets and partners. The commercial actions in the agenda for 2009 go from fairs for the promotion of wines, cosmetics and fashion to biotechnology, computer science, railroad and air transportation and nuclear industry. The French entrepreneurs have laid their eyes on the public investments - in special the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC, in Portuguese) - and in the public-private partnerships (PPP) for the construction of new nuclear plants, the construction of the high speed rail or the renewal of the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) fleet, for instance. Products like the Airbus and Rafale airplanes, the Alstom trains and the Areva EPR nuclear reactors, will be emphasized in the French party.Such an interest is due to the growing Brazilian consumer market. Besides that, the evolution of the numbers of the bilateral trade generates optimism in the French entrepreneurial sector. Even though it is still timid - France is the eighth main economic partner of Brazil, whereas Brazil is France's 21st -, the commerce among both the countries increased 135% in the last five years.