Where the jobs are: Brazil

Shasta Darlington – CNN Money, 05/30/2012

Sao Paulo (CNN) — Looking for a job? Try moving to Brazil.

Just ten years ago, Brazilian professionals were fleeing the country in search of better jobs and higher pay elsewhere. But these days, white-collar workers from around the globe are pouring into Brazil to find work.

In 2011, the number of legal foreign workers jumped 57% to 1.51 million, according to the Justice Ministry.

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China’s State Grid buys Brazil power lines for $936 million

Guo Aibing – Bloomberg, 05/30/2012

China’s State Grid International Development Ltd. bought seven power transmission lines in Brazilfor 751.7 million euros ($936 million) to expand in Latin America’s biggest economy.

An agreement was signed with Spain’s ACS Actividades de Construccion & Servicios SA on May 26, according to a statement posted yesterday on the website of the unit of State Grid Corp. of China. ACS units Area Industrial, Cobra, Cymi and CME will sell the lines for an enterprise value, comprising 423.4 million euros in equity and 328.3 million euros in debt, the Madrid- based company said in a statement May 28.

ACS is selling assets to pay debt as orders waned for Spanish builders following government spending cuts on infrastructure. The diminishing fortunes of debt-laden European companies are providing State Grid an opportunity to secure targets at discounted valuations. State Grid in January bought 25 percent of Portugal’s national power grid company Redes Energéticas Nacionais.

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The Brazil backlash

The Economist, 05/19/2012

Not long ago, the BRICs were lionised as fast-growing superpowers-in-waiting. These days Russia is portrayed as a corrupt petrostate. India is ensnared in red tape, unable to muster the political will to break free. The mighty Chinese economy has slowed in recent weeks (see article). Even South Africa, which considers itself to be the “S” in BRICs, seems sluggish and hidebound next to the gazelles to its north.

Now it is Brazil’s turn. Much is being made of Brazilian threats of huge fines and prison sentences against executives of Chevron, an American oil company, after a small leak of oil off the coast. Critics have taken to complaining about Brazil’s expensive welfare state and dependence on commodity exports. Its torpid economy ground to a halt in the middle of last year. Admittedly officials say that they deliberately cooled the economy, to drive down an overvalued currency and astronomic interest rates. Yet their expectation of growth of 4.5% this year and a bit more next looks implausible.

Does Brazil deserve the backlash? Some of the criticism is misplaced or inaccurate. Unemployment is low, wages rising and foreign direct investment pouring in ($67 billion in 2011, a record). Most economists reckon that Brazil can continue to grow at around 3.5% without triggering higher inflation. Many countries would love to have Brazil’s highly productive farms and its big new oilfields, two of the sources of its commodity dependence. Compared with Russia, China and even India, Brazil more clearly enjoys the rule of law. Its welfare state represents a defensible political choice for a country of yawning inequalities. Above all, Brazil’s strength is a democracy that has yielded broad political continuity and economic stability.

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American Airlines asks for more Brazil flight rights

USA Today/AP, 05/18/2012

American Airlines, which is operating under bankruptcy protection, is seeking permission to add more flights to Brazil.

The country’s third-biggest airline said Wednesday that it filed an application with the U.S. Department of Transportation for the right to fly 17 more weekly flights between the U.S. and Brazil later this year. It currently runs more than 80 weekly flights to Brazil.

Chief Commercial Officer Virasb Vahidi said in a statement that Brazil is a growing market for American, with the company hoping to start running expanded service as early as Oct. 1.

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Brazil passes information access law

AP/Fox News, 05/17/2012

A freedom of information law has taken effect in Brazil, challenging an embedded culture of secrecy and bureaucracy.

Proponents, including President Dilma Rousseff, said the measure is nothing short of a revolution for a system that has kept tight control over information for decades.

But even as the president hailed the potential of the law that went into effect Wednesday, experts cautioned that it will take more than a piece of paper and political goodwill at the top to change attitudes about the flow of information. Most citizens, even journalists, are unfamiliar with the concept of free access to public information.

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Call for proposals: Selection of projects that promote Brazil during FIFA World Cup 2014

Embassy of Brazil, 05/17/2012

The Brazilian Government has the honor to call for presentations of proposals that will promote the image of Brazil as the host of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The proposals should address at least one of the following central themes: business, tourism, and culture. The projects selected will be integrated into the Official Program being planned by the Brazilian Government.

Selection Process

World Cup Portal – Call for Proposal

Argentina and Brazil discuss hiking Mercosur tariff

Jude Webber – Financial Times, 05/16/2012

Charity begins at home.

Argentina and Brazil, the two most protectionist nations in South America – actually, two of the most protectionist in the world – have discussed an Argentine proposal to hike the common external tariff of the Mercosur trade bloc to a whopping 35 per cent from 22 per cent now. Why? To keep out pesky imports from Asia or the European hunting for markets amid recession in many western countries.

The Argentine plan will be put to a Mercosur summit in the Argentine city of Mendoza on June 28. As business paper Ámbito Financiero put it:

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American Airlines want more U.S.- Brazilian flights

Terry Maxon – The Dallas Morning News, o5/16/2012

American Airlines said Wednesday it wants to operate 17 additional weekly flights between the United States and Brazil.

It has asked for governmental approval for:

• A second daily flight from New York Kennedy to Sao Paulo, beginning Oct. 1.

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Brazil dismisses problem with stadium construction

AP/Washington Post, 05/15/2012

Brazil’s sports minister is dismissing delays in stadium construction for the 2014 World Cup and says construction work in the northeastern city of Salvador will be completed in time for next year’s Confederations Cup.

Minister Aldo Rebelo visited Salvador on Tuesday and said he is confident it will be included as a host city for the warmup competition in 2013. FIFA will decide by next month whether Salvador and Recife will host matches along with Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Fortaleza and Brasilia.

Rebelo dismissed an alleged report obtained by local media from FIFA saying that soccer’s governing body is worried with the “critical situation” of stadium construction in Brazil. He said FIFA President Sepp Blatter said otherwise in a meeting with local organizers last week.

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Exclusive: Brazil to cut electricity taxes to boost economy

Brian Winters – Reuters/Yahoo Finance, 05/15/2012

President Dilma Rousseff plans to cut and simplify taxes for electricity producers and distributors, two senior officials told Reuters, as part of a strategy to reduce Brazil’s high business costs and stimulate its struggling economy.

Brazil has been on the brink of recession since mid-2011 as high taxes, an overvalued exchange rate and other structural problems squeeze what had previously been one of the world’s most dynamic emerging economies.

Rousseff has in recent months announced targeted tax cuts for stagnant sectors such as the automotive industry, embracing an incremental approach to reform that has drawn criticism from investors who say more drastic changes are needed.

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