Trade Manual: Brazil

• Brazil is situated in the continent of South America, it is one of the Latin American nations.
• Brazil has the sixth largest population in the world at about 212,599,409 in 2020 with about 47.7% of the Mulatto, 43.1% black and 1.1% Asian.
• The national growth rate of population is about 0.67% from 2020 in 2021.
• Brazil being an emerging economy with high biodiversity faces extreme levels of deforestation and climate change is evident.
• The major languages spoken in Brazil are Portuguese which also the official language, along with Italian and German languages.
• The national capital is Brasilia; Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador are some major cities.
• The GDP is about 1.879 trillion CAD, where CAD is about 4.32 Brazilian Real, the official currency of Brazil.

• Brazil has 2 million km of roads and highway network and about 29,900 km of railways.
• The labour force of Brazil is about 70.9% of the population. The main occupations are in industries like textile, chemical, lumber, iron and steel, aviation equipment manufacturing, and motor vehicles (worldbank.org, 2020).
• Brasilia is about 2 hours ahead of Ottawa, Canada.
• Brazil’s main imports are fertilizers, mineral fuels and aircraft parts, machinery and parts. The main exports to Canada are inorganic minerals, precious stones, metals and iron and steel.

• Brazil is a republic nation governed by a federal structure on the presidential .The main political party in power is the Democratas and Social Liberal Party in a coalition government. It is a centrist party with neoliberal ideology (Reuters, 2021).  
• Some major transnational disputes of Brazil are border issues with Uruguay and the problem of illicit drugs. The nation also faces issues with refugees from Venezuela ((gov,  2022). 
• The corruption perception index of Brazil stands at 38 which means start the nation has high level of corruption in the public sector (org, 2020).
• The economic system is mixed as both private and public sectors are owners of resources and allocation is done by both the market forces of supply and demand and also government.
• The major export and import partners of Brazil are USA, China, Japan, Argentina Germany and Korean Republic, Netherlands.
• The growth rate of GDP in 2019 was 1.41% and in 2020 it reduced to -4. 05%. GDP per capita was about 6796.84 USD in 2020 (worldbank.org, 2020).
• The exchange rate between CAD and Brazilian real is 4.34. The nation has immense natural resources like aluminium, iron ore, tin and copper.
• While the unemployment rate of the nation is 12.1 in 2021. The minimum wage of Brazil is 1039 Brazilian reals monthly.
• While the Brazil is a member of various FTA like the MERCOSUR, BRICS, ALADI, SELA, ECLAC, BID and many more. 

• Business people should be well informed and knowledgeable trading the business and directness is appreciated. While exaggerations are not widely accepted or seen as strengths. In Brazil relationship status when doing negotiations due to strong traditional values. They value team efforts and likes to have detailed discussion over topics. 
• Canada's official and main language is English and French and Brazil's official language is Portuguese. 
• The silent language in Canada is eye contact and confidence while speaking, apart from being polite in conversation, in business meetings one should not use any kind of scents or use the sign V. For Brazilian people on the other hand, being humble and comfortable to start conversation are given importance. 
• In Canada one can greet with a handshake irrespective of gender. While in Brazil greeting women involves kissing both checks and handshakes are meant for men. 
• In Brazil the executives can wear three piece suits and in Canada dress code is conservative in nature with properly presentable dress codes. 
• Punctuality is important in case of Canada but relaxed for Brazil. 15 mins late arrival is however accepted for both nations.
• Traditional gifts can be exchanged in Canada while flower giving is general Brazil (Today Translations., 2022)

• The main resources are iron and steel ores, tin copper and bauxite along with precious elements like gold and platinum. The nation also has high capacity to generate hydropower. Brazil is the 12th largest oil producer globally with about 8 million barrels. The value of iron ore trading is very high at 2.3 bn USD (GAC, 2022). 
• The main products for which Brazil is well known are Soya beans, iron ore, oil and petroleum which are top 3 exports. According to the World Trade Statistics the Revealed comparative advantage of Brazil in intermediate goods, raw materials, vegetable, food products and minerals are higher than unity (worldbank.org., 2017).

• The concept of emerging economy like Brazil comes forward when the advantages of the opportunities of trading in such a economy is high in terms of demographics we find that the labour force participation rate is 70 % which is very high. Brazil has one of the most attractive on tap markets which can be explored by business houses. 
• Brazil has a comparative advantage in in the assembling of motor vehicles and aviation products like aircrafts. These products are highly skill-based and they are generally available in very few Nations like the United States and the European Nations. Pioneering nation to use artificial intelligence to curb poverty hence it calls for higher investments in artificial intelligence from around the world (The Borgen Project, 2021).

• If the Canadian business is wanting to export by manufacturing from Brazil the cost of labour and cost of skilled labours would be less compared to any other advance nations. 

• The LED Roadway Lighting is one such business which has immense capability of operating in Brazil (GAC, 2021). Currently the main products manufacturing of Trunkey solutions for infrastructure lighting, street lightings, software designs, sensors and services like lighting designing, rental programs and active monitoring. Specific products might include luminaries for cities and housing, and software for offices which are effective and cost worthy.
• LED Roadway Lighting can tap into the infrastructure market. The target consumers should be firms who are engaged in infrastructure and housing, along with office market in major cities like where corporate firms are operating currently. The consumers would want to have a cost effective lighting solutions when it is backed by skilled labours who have high productivity (squarespace.com, 2022). 
• Place of distribution should be the major cities like Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo. The entry of the firm through FDI or joint ventures with less licensing costs. Through FDI the organisation would be able to have a command over the supply chains. Since the consumers are mainly other corporate organizations tying up with domestic firms would give a competitive advantage (net.,2022). 
• Promotion of the products can be made through public platforms like newspaper, television and social media platforms. The organisation can also issue press briefings for its entry into the market. 
• The value of the products can be communicated through social media channels and press briefings of its sustainable nature of business. Development of positive relationship with consumers ought to be made by having joint ventures which provide the firm a trustworthy base of operations. 

Conclusion

• The competitive advantage of Brazil in manufacturing motor vehicles and aircrafts are indication that it has potential to advanced manufacturing.
• The culture of community development strikes the most interesting one while impacting business with relations are challenging.
• The trend of high competitive advantage in manufacturing is important for business purposes.
• With limited time the market structures are least explored.
• The comparison between Brazil and Canadian ease of doing business was beneficial to explore.
• The most challenging aspect was however finding information regarding the businesses specific to Canada not operating in Brazil.
• Business negotiations and language difficulties are very much different from Brazil and Canada.
• The biggest challenge for International Business in Brazil is the amount of investments Brazil might do in technology sector is might not match Canadian investments as Canada is an advanced nation.

References

Cia.gov. (2022). Brazil. Retrieved 26 January 2022, from https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/brazil/

Data.worldbank.org. (2020). Brazil | Data. Retrieved 26 January 2022, from https://data.worldbank.org/country/brazil\

GAC. (2021). Six Canadian Business Leaders Named to New Canada-Brazil CEO Forum. Retrieved 26 January 2022, from https://www.international.gc.ca/media_commerce/comm/news-communiques/2012/01/004.aspx?lang=eng

GAC. (2022). Canada-Brazil relations. Retrieved 26 January 2022, from https://www.international.gc.ca/country-pays/brazil-bresil/relations.aspx?lang=eng

Ledroadwaylighting.net. (2022). DIVISION OF LED ROADWAY LIGHTING LTD. Retrieved 26 January 2022, from http://ledroadwaylighting.net/

Reuters. (2021). Right-wing merger aims to form Brazil's largest political party. Retrieved 26 January 2022, from https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/right-wing-merger-aims-form-brazils-largest-political-party-2021-10-06/

Static1.squarespace.com. (2022). Product Catalog. Retrieved 26 January 2022, from https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5d850f0a365a9f5288f35268/t/5e1e13304c4f1f46f9a13d6a/1579029306965/LC+2020+Product+Catalog-EN.pdf

The Borgen Project. (2021). Innovations in Poverty Eradication in Brazil - The Borgen Project. Retrieved 26 January 2022, from https://borgenproject.org/innovations-in-poverty-eradication-in-br azil/#:~:text=Artificial%20Intelligence % 20Artificial%20intelligence%20in %20Brazil %20is%20a,economy%20by%2 0the%20use%20of%20artifi cial%20intelligence%20technologies.

Today Translations. (2022). Business Culture and Etiquette in Canada | Today Translations. Retrieved 26 January 2022, from https://www.todaytranslations.com/consultancy-services/business-culture-and-etiquette/doing-business-in-canada/

Transparency.org. (2020). 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index - Explore Brazil’s results. Retrieved 26 January 2022, from https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2020/index/bra

Wits.worldbank.org. (2017). Brazil Product Exports and Imports 2017 | WITS Data. Retrieved 26 January 2022, from https://wits.worldbank.org/CountryProfile/en/Country/BRA/Year/2017/TradeFlow/EXPIMP/Partner/WLD/Product/All-Groups