China is ready to invest $8 billion in Brazil this year

Minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Fernando Pimentel, says that China will invest around $8 billion in Brazil in 2011. The minister went on to say that as a result of booming bilateral commerce, the two countries will need to set up a technical trade group.

“We must have the tools to make decisions quickly,” explained Pimentel, as he prepared to meet the Chinese minister of Commerce, Chen Deming, who is known as someone with a vast and profound knowledge of Brazil and its economy. “Deming is someone who wants to resolve problems,” said Pimentel.

With regard to bilateral trade, Pimentel said he was satisfied with the volume of Brazil-China trade in 2010, which reached more than $30 billion and should rise to $37 billion in 2011. However, he expressed concern with the fact that around 80% of Brazil’s exports to China were concentrated in only three products: petroleum, soy and mineral ores.

Pimentel pointed out that minister Deming has said that Brazil has good products with good quality, but the Chinese are not aware of them. So, the Brazilian business community must get to work and spread the word about their capabilities, he explained.

Meanwhile, Paulo Tigre, of the National Industrial Confederation, has his own recipe for better trade performance. “Brazil has to reduce or remove bottlenecks, get a tax reform in place and increase investments. We have to do our homework. We need less red tape, a better educational system and we must reduce our costs,” he declared.