Brazil – the country to watch
With the Olympics set to take place in 2016 and the World Cup even sooner in 2014, Brazil is getting a lot of positive attention at the minute. And it seems that there are plenty of reasons for the country to be content with the way things are going.
Indeed, the Why Brazil? Why Now? Investment Opportunities in Real Estate & Tourism Markets event held at the Embassy of Brazil last month was a sign of how far the South American nation has come.
At the event, coordinator of inward investment at the Ministry of Tourism Laercio Souza asserted that the economic crisis has had less of an impact on Brazil because of the financial structure the country has in place.
"When you talk about economic history, we are too young. We started to reform about 19 years [ago] when we opened for foreign investments," Ms Souza claimed.
She went on to say that Saudi Arabia spent 6.8 per cent of its gross domestic product to get money in the market in order to get out of the economic crisis, while Brazil spent just 1.2 per cent. This has left the nation "in a very good position there", she commented.
According to the coordinator of inward investment, the nation’s ratio of credit is particularly low when compared to other countries, while the private sector has become very strong, leading to increased competition.
Ms Souza also pointed to the "very strong and moving domestic market", which has come about as a result of the "evolution of the classes in Brazil".
"The middle class is a very strong class in Brazil," she commented, stating that it makes up over 50 per cent of the population, with a domestic market of 100 million consumers in Brazil. As for where the natives of the country are buying their own second homes, Ms Souza pointed to Santa Cantarina and Florianopolis.
"Be sure that Brazilians like to consume. They are not only the best buyers outside Brazil but they are the best buyers inside Brazil," she added.
It appears that the Brazil is not an insular nation either. Earlier this year, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), praised Brazil’s intention to invest up to $10 billion (£6 billion) in notes to be issued by the IMF.
He commended the Brazilian authorities for their "great leadership and engagement in the whole process of IMF reform", adding that he was "pleased that Brazil is clearly showing its strong support to the international economic and financial system".
Those seeking to buy property in Brazil have reasons to be cheerful too. Javier Fernandez-Pena, executive chairman at Confide Brasil, speaking at the Why Brazil? Why Now? event, said that international buyers will make their way back to the country as it is starting to be seen as fashionable and is predicted to be "the location of the next real estate boom".
"Rio de Janeiro represents a tremendous opportunity for the country in terms of exposure and this is an opportunity that Brazil cannot miss," Mr Fernandez-Pena explained.
The country is getting the attention of the media as well. Michael Skapinker, from the Financial Times (FT), recently appeared on a panel of journalists from international publications and when asked to nominate their big story for the next year, he picked Brazil.
In an article for the FT, Mr Skapinker revealed that he told the other journalists the state had come through the financial crisis in a reasonable position. He also pointed out that Brazil is sitting on an expansive deep-sea oil find and has seen the $8 billion (£4.8 billion) flotation of part of the Brazilian arm of Santander.
It seems that the country is getting praise from all corners and those looking to invest in Brazilian property appear to have plenty of reasons to do so. Not only does the fantastic scenery in Brazil look good, the financial prospects do too.
