Brazil resists the worldwide recession

By any standards, Brazil has made great strides in recent decades. In mid 2012 the Country has now reached the point where it is second only to the United States in terms of economies in the Americas. Not only that but in global terms, Brazil has now overtaken the United Kingdom to become the world's sixth biggest economy.

To a large extent, Brazil is proving able to resist the worst effects of the current world recession. This is partly because of the country's large and diverse range of exploitable natural resources within its own borders. A good example is petroleum; domestic deposits are now able to supply the country’s needs, having equalled demand for the first time in the year 2007 and exceeded it every single year thereafter. As regards the bedrock of any advanced economy, power supplies for industry, the cities and the rural areas alike are vital. In this particular aspect a positive economic statistic is that Brazil gets ninety percent of its needs from its own massive hydroelectric potential. Another good economic instance is the important range of mineral deposits of iron, manganese, nickel and gold, all of which supply important raw materials (or indeed vital media of exchange or trade!).

In terms of manufacturing, growth in the sector has been impressive. Products in this leading BRICS nation include petrochemicals, cars and aircraft, computers and a wide range of computer durables, with an increasing proportion of the domestic market rather than the foreign. Brazil's service sector has also helped the Country survive the worst buffeting of the global recession. The 'industry' accounts for between fifteen and twenty percent of GDP( Gross Domestic Product), depending on definition.

The country has enjoyed much better economic stability since the launching of the 'Plan Real' national programme in 1994 by President Franco and Finance Minister Cardoso. Since then, all administrations have had at least the option of much better control of both the economy and the currency, not perfectly of course, but at least the tools have been present. Last year in 2011 the prestigious 'Forbes 2000' list of top world public companies included no less than 36 Brazilian organisations. By far the largest of these was the oil and gas giant Petrobras with a total value of over $240 Billion (the fourth largest company in the world). Also included were mining company Vale ($185 Billion), Itau Unibanco (Bankers at $115B) and beverage producers Ambey at $85 Billion.

All this is very positive but what does it mean for people wanting to invest in Brazil? Well, one way of looking at it is to say that there are obviously two kinds. These are domestic and 'from overseas', of course. In both cases there are encouraging signs, despite inevitable fluctuations in inflation, interest rates and the Dollar/Real and the Dollar/Euro exchange rates. Generally, Brazil is moving steadily towards eventual 'first world' status. A result of this is that Alternative Investments in certain areas and industries remains an encouraging prospect for both large and smaller financers. This is likely to continue for quite some time.

Casa Nova Construction Updates

Construction work continues on the first phase of Casa Nova Residencial, New build crew lodgings have now been constructed for workers wishing to stay onsite rather than commute and our lucky mascot continues to roam the site.

Visit EcoHouse Developments for more Casa Nova, Minha Casa Minha Vida Construction updates

Important Brazilian Art Exhibition in London

Starting on 21st July there will be an important seven-week exhibition of Brazilian Art and Culture in London. The event is entitled in English; 'From the Margin to the Edge' and will include the work of more than 30 artists and other creative people from all over the South American country. It will be hosted by the prestigious 'Somerset House' artistic centre.

The contributors will include both well-known names and relative newcomers. The whole thing aims to give a huge boost to the awareness of Brazil's visual culture in Britain and the wider Europe and is expected to draw great international interest.

Words used by the Brazilians to describe the exhibition’s themes include ‘daring’, ‘innovative’ and ‘sophisticated’. So far the list of specific contributors has been a closely-guarded secret but no doubt it will be breached soon !

Brazilian Government to stimulate Construction

On Wednesday this week the Brazilian government is set to announce a range of measures designed to boost the economy.

These will be centred on the construction and road-building sectors and will involve investment in the large scale purchase of heavy-duty equipment. Commentators report that the bulk of the items will comprise over 1300 road graders and nearly 3600 backhoes. A road grader is a large machine designed to level a stretch of ground or roadway in order to make a flat surface. A backhoe is an even more versatile piece of equipment. It’s essentially a kind of hydraulic-powered ‘excavator’comprising a strong digging-bucket at the end of an articulated arm, usually mounted on a vehicle such as a tractor or similar.

The device has many uses, both in road building or other applications such as building construction. According to the federal Development Minister, Fernando Pimental, throughout the country local municipalities of up to 50,000 residents will be eligible to apply for the equipment. Applications for this purpose will be opened/received as from July.

EcoHouse Developments offer secure and ethical ways to Invest In Brazil through Minha Casa Minha Vida social housing, EcoHouse are at the forefront of property development in Brazil

FLIP 2012 launched in Brazil

For a decade now, the annual Paraty International Literary Festival ( known for short as ‘FLIP’ the initial of the Portuguese version of the title) has been an important feature on the South American scene. The event this year is running from 4th to 8th July in the beautiful coastal setting of Paraty, on the famous ‘Costa Verde’ just a couple of hours from downtown Rio.

This regular celebration of authorship attracts a wide range of artistic and literary talent from all around the world. Guests and visitors this year include Pulitzer Prize winner Jennifer Egan, Jonathan Franzen and Ian McEwan among many others. One of the central themes for discussion will be the celebrated Brazilian poet, Carlos Drummond de Andrade who will feature in the opening programme.

Book retailers throughout the town have been preparing for the event with materials in Portuguese and many other languages. As well as celebrating achievement in writing, of course, an important focus of ‘FLIP’ has always been on helping to boost broader literacy throughout Brazil. This is an important component of the long term success of the Country’s society and of course its Economy.
EcoHouse Developments offer secure and ethical ways to Invest In Brazil through Minha Casa Minha Vida social housing, EcoHouse are at the forefront of property development in Brazil .

Brazil, Now a big hit with foreign investors

It's all we here about these days on the Investment News websites and forums, in the media or via word of mouth, The smart place to invest your money is Brazil, but why should we Invest in Brazil? is it safe and is any type of investment in the country a good one?

First of all remember to be vigilant, because once an investment type or product or even a country becomes popular with investors around the world and these investors start reporting good returns it opens the door to all the unscrupulous boiler room companies and dubious individuals eager to take your cash to line their own pocket and give you nothing in return, the worst culprits are the cold callers, recently highlighted on the BBC's Panorama program, who will call you up with an amazing deal for land or property offering a very high ROI ( Return on Investment) that is simply too good to be true. So if you are interested in getting good returns for your money, do your own research, never fall for the smooth talking cold calling salesmen and to be honest my advice is to never even engage in conversion with a cold caller, their pitches are all the same, a limited time deal that ends today, or he's chosen you to be part of a small group of investors that are all going to make it big, really! if it's so great why doesn't he invest himself? they will always want money today via a bank transfer or credit card and they all end the same way, you end up with either nothing or a worthless plot of land not worth the dodgy certificate that they sent you. It's also impossible to get your money back from these companies, they either change their phone numbers, disappear and set up under a new name or they are based in Spain and are not actually operating under UK legalisation.

These days there is no excuse to believe what someone simply tells you, no information is elusive or concealed, we have the internet search engines to find out what ever information we need about a product or a company, there are also forums and impartial investment news websites. and remember if an investment broker is offering a much higher rate of return than anyone else, then it's probably not legitimate, it's like finding a company online selling the laptop you want for £100 when every other website of store it selling it between £289 and £329, you can guarantee you'll be saying goodbye to your £100 and never seeing a laptop, Well, the same applies with investments.

So what should you be looking for if your want to invest in Brazil? What you should be looking for are well know investments that you know do actually work such as the Minha Casa Minha Vida social housing programme that is backed by the government in Brazil and the banks here in the UK. This scheme has been running now for three years and as long as you do actually invest in the scheme through a social housing developer and don't give your money to a cold caller claiming to be involved in the scheme then you are certain to make a profit and the good news is that investments are short term and you can get your money back , plus profits with 12 months, again don't wait for that cold call, do some research, google social housing brazil or minha casa minha vida, and when you find a developer that seems reputable don't stop there, ask to see completed units, units under construction, photos, videos, a due diligence report. And above all never hand over money direct. Ethical participants in the scheme hold you funds safely in an Escrow Facility here in the UK, protected by UK law, meaning your funds can only be used to build these homes and nothing else. Play it safe and cautious and you too can enjoy the benefits of investing in Brazil.