The growth reflects Brazil’s thriving middle class growth and buying power.
The Brazilian mobile operator Claro will grow it’s current market share by 25%.

We bought in Claro’s mother company (America Movel: AMX) at 44,39 USD on the NYSE end of February; yielded 4,4% dividends in 2007 and has a solid valuation growth potential above 60 USD.

Tags: amx, claro

We wrote previously about the increasingly stronger ties between Brazil and the Middle East.
Qatar Airways just confirmed it will start operating daily flights between Doha and Sao Paulo (GRU) as from june on.

Now we are awaiting for TAM’s announcement on direct flights between Brussels and Brazil.

Tags: qatar sao paulo

The ties between Brazil and the middle East have been growing increasingly stronger over the past year.
Last March 3d, Hillary went to Brazil with a preach on Teheran; Terence Neilan called the initiative “When Hillary Clinton meets with Brazil’s president today, it will be a case of the hawk meeting the dove on the subject of Iran”.

Last November Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Brasilia.  Lula then said Iran should not be sanctioned for its nuclear program.

And Clinton’s visit last week was a complete faillure; Brazil won’t bow down. After meeting in Brasilia with Foreign Minister Celso Amorim on Wednesday, Mrs. Clinton probably knows this better than anyone. Mr. Amorim said Wednesday that Brazil will not “bow down” to international pressure.

Hillary Clinton her visit was preceded by William Burns.  Burns is undersecretary of state for political affairs and is promoting sanctions to Iran.
Read his article on his Blog where he spoke of the status of Brazil as a clear “emerging power” and of the importance of the relationship between the US and Brazil.  The New York Times also wrote an insightful article on the matter.

But again, Brazil won’t bow down.
Last Friday, Brazilian president Lula da Silva left for an official visit to Israel, the Palestinian Territories and Jordan to discuss the Middle East peace process, Iran and trade cooperation.  Thhe focus is on high-tech sectors, including semiconductors, telecommunications, nanotechnology, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.

While Brazil is taking the stage, China is facing challenges back home andChina is preparing for a showndown with the United States.  The Telegraph wrote today this excellent article: “The long-simmering clash between the world’s two great powers is coming to a head, with dangerousimplications for the international system“.

Tags: clinton brasil, peres lula

The PSA Peugeot Citroën offices are located in Botafogo in Rio, with some magnificient views over the sugar loaf. Vincent Rambaud took position as CEO in 2007. PSA itself arrived in Brazil in 1991, started to build their first assembly factory in 1998 and produced their first automobile in 2001.
Brazil is today the 5th biggest automotive market in the world.
Brazilians probably will like this ending quote in the interview:
“Particulary, at the time of a crisis, is when Brazilians with their most important qualities, explicitely enthusiasm, goodwill, confidence in the country and confidence in the future. Furthermore and at the same time, lots of creativity and a large capacity to see things from another point of view, keeping, as far as possible, a compromise. That’s what everybody appreciates in Brazilians, and that’s what I also appreciate here.”

Tags: PSA Brazil, Vincent Rambaud

It’s clear that with the current overload of debt in the US, Europe and Japan (see Marc Faber last Monday) and the lack of growth in those markets,people are turning there eyes to other markets.

If you missed the 50 minute interview with Eike Batista on Charlie Rose: watch it now.
You cannot enter Brasil without knowing Eike Batista.  His father ran Vale do Rio Doce, which is the world’s largest iron ore exporter.    But none of his children could get involved in Vale, good business sense of him.  Batista then did his own investments in iron ore, Brazilian infrastructure and oil and is becoming the world richest man in less than a decade.

But the interesting side of this interview is Eike Batista’s view of global growth.  he points out that Brazil now has everything: a great natural resource base (huge offshore oil reserves, Batista believes that Brazil can become the 5th largest oil exporter in the world, a strong manufacturing sector).
Brazil was nearly not affected by the Western banking collapse.  Why?  Because only 14% of Brazil’s GDP is exported and because of Brazil’s growing booming middle class.

A lot of Batista’s business is with the Chinese. He is building ports and other facilities to ship iron ore, soy, and soon oil to China. He his great admiration for what is happening in China: “A billion-person middle class – they quickly become the low cost/high quality producer of everything: they are unstoppable.” But China is natural resource poor and they need to buy them from Brazil and other natural resource rich countries.

Also note how Batista points to the Brazilian banks being completely underleveraged today. Batista also requires respect for giving credits to Fernando Henrique (read the book on him) for Brazil’s current success.

View the interview here.

Tags: Eike Batista