Brazil gets office due to boom

To help Florida businesses, especially smaller companies, take advantage of opportunities in the booming Brazilian economy, Enterprise Florida reestablished an office in Sao Paulo, Brazil this week.

“I’ve been going around the state for the past year calling Brazil `Florida’s China,’ ” said Manny Mencía, Enterprise Florida’s senior vice president for international trade and business development.

“Brazil is one of the world’s fastest growing economies,” he said. “Considering its vast economic potential and continuously developing relationship with Florida, it became essential that we renew the state’s presence there to capitalize on vital business prospects.”

The state had an office in Brazil — its largest international trading partner — from 1991 until 2008 when it was closed for budgetary reasons.

Reopening the office will help Florida businesses not only increase sales of their products and services but also allow the state to prospect for Brazilian companies that want to invest in Florida, Mencía said.

President Barack Obama also acknowledged Brazil’s growing economic importance in his State of the Union Address Tuesday night.

The president said he would be visiting Brazil, Chile and El Salvador in March “to forge new alliances for progress in the Americas.” Obama also reiterated his goal of doubling U.S. exports over the next five years.

With Brazil playing host to the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games, the potential for two-way trade and investment is only expected to increase.

Already Brazil is Florida’s largest trading partner. Between October 2009 and October 2010, Florida exports to Brazil rose by 30.3 percent and imports by 11.4 percent. Brazil-Florida trade through October totaled $11.2 billion and exceeded trade levels for the full year of 2009.