Alberta companies eyeing trade opportunities with Brazil are being invited to join a business mission coinciding with the World Petroleum Congress being held in Rio de Janeiro this fall.
The Exporters’ and Importers’ Association of Calgary, which represents about 100 area companies and individuals, is organizing the private-sector trip to Canada’s largest trading partner in the Latin America region.
“Brazil is the eighth-largest market in the world, and forecast in growth for oil and gas, automotive, agriculture and telecommunications is very high,” says EAIC president Carol Blakey.
While most trade missions involve getting on a plane and attending a trade show in hopes of scoring a deal, this trip will require participants to do their homework before they are accepted for the mission.
“We have to be fairly careful of the companies that join us, because we want people to be successful,” says Blakey.
Prior to the mission, the association will provide extensive research on trade sectors and opportunities in Brazil to participating companies, including bringing in federal and provincial experts from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) and Alberta Economic Development. A wide range of trade support services will be offered, including a free credit check on potential Brazilian customers, competitive intelligence training and ongoing market research support.
About 50 people interested in trade with Brazil attended a kickoff event in Calgary recently, where the association demonstrated virtual trade mission technology provided by DFAIT.
The technology is to help give Canadian companies a competitive edge by connecting with potential buyers and partners in advance of the actual trade show running concurrent with the WPC Sept. 2-5.
The congress is expected to attract 3,000 delegates from 90 countries to discuss technological advances in petroleum science, as well as industry-related economics and management. The Rio Oil and Gas Expo 2002 held in the Riocentro convention facility is anticipating 800 exhibitors and 35,000 visitors.
The Calgary association “is spending a considerable amount of time and resources finding business partners for Canadian companies in Brazil before they even go,” says Blakey.
“We’ve got a whole bunch of organizations on the ground in Brazil, including Canadian companies, that are going to find customers and joint-venture partners for our Canadian businesses.”
The mission is expected to cost upwards of $10,000, not including airfare or accommodation, for participating companies. Some grant money is available from the federal government, says Blakey.
Canada exports goods including newsprint, sulphur, aircraft, wheat, electrical equipment and fertilizer to Brazil, which in turn exports shoes, coffee, steel, fruit juices and car parts. Two-way trade between the countries was more than $2.1 billion in 2000.
Analysts say there are potential market opportunities for Alberta/Canadian technology and equipment in material management, robotics, cutting, lasers, welding and machine vision systems and equipment. Brazil has the largest telecommunications market in South America and a huge appetite for cellular phones and other technology.
Recent trade irritants between the two countries – including Canada’s temporary suspension of Brazilian beef imports last year due to fears of mad-cow disease and a simmering five-year dispute over government subsidies in the competitive aerospace industry – are one reason Canadian companies need to take the initiative in promoting the strong trade relationships that already exist with Brazil, says Blakey.
“These issues haven’t helped the Canadian image over there, and they’re one of the reasons why we’re aggressively making sure that what we’re doing is promoted, and why we’re coming in closely tied with the WPC,” she adds.
“Industry will listen to us in a way that they don’t with the government, because we’re all private-sector people ourselves.”
