Brazil pitches itself as solution to Europe’s energy, food crisis

Madrid, Mar 31 (EFE).- The war in Ukraine and Covid pandemic have plunged Europe into an energy and food crisis, but Brazil’s economy minister, Paulo Guedes, says his country could provide solutions amid an overhaul to liberalize its economy which has put the Latin American giant on the map as a driver of growth and foreign investment.

In an interview with EFE, Guedes said the world was at a crossroads that was “forcing the whole entrepreneurial community to make choices now about relocating their industries, where they will be investing in the next 10 to 15 years at the same time that a geopolitical crisis has emerged”.

“This might be a relocation opportunity for many industries that were set in southeast Asia, China and Russia,” the minister added. “Maybe the West will feel safer if they conduct these investments in a more geopolitical aligned country like Brazil.”

Guedes explained that Brazil was in a process of liberalizing its economy through “tax reform, legislative reform, regulatory frameworks in natural gas, oil, seaports, railroads, electricity and 5G.”

Brazil’s strategy in the public sector is focused on the nation’s accession to the OECD and on putting the finishing touches to a trade deal between the European Union and Mercosur.

“In the private sector we deregulated our investment frontier so that foreign investors move in, and a lot of Spanish and French companies are investing in Brazil. Iberdrola, Repsol, Telefonica, Santander, they are all investing in Brazil,” the minister added.

“In the medium long term this war might transform the geo-industrial location of many important sectors and it could eventually benefit Brazil,” Guedes concluded.EFE

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