Higher Returns on Investments attributable to the Strong Position of Women in Brazil

As regards both their position in the economy and also in wider society, there's no doubt that women's contributions in Brazil are even more central and vital than they've ever been. In common with many other countries throughout Latin America, the status of females in the Country has steadily improved in recent decades. Equality is still not widespread however, despite the undoubted advances.

Since the most recent national constitution in 1988, both genders have, at least formally, enjoyed equal status in terms of rights and responsibilities. In practice, however, there are still some big differences between the two sexes. This is especially true in such areas as the economy, employment and public representation, let alone the (slightly!) greater contribution of males in the home. For instance, while it's illegal to discriminate between men and women in terms of wages, salaries and terms of employment, the average female wage tends to be lower in practice than the male one. Across the whole economy, the Labour and Employment Ministry has concluded that, worker-by-worker the average woman is paid about thirty per cent less than the average man on an hourly or yearly basis. Also the types of work undertaken tend to show quite marked gender patterns, despite numerous and growing exceprtions

This is noticeable at all levels. While Brazil has its first female President, Dilma Rousseff, less than ten percent of all other elected politicians at national level are women. The figure is higher at state and/or municipal level but only very slightly. It's a similar story in the judicial system where the UN found that only about five per cent of the most senior lawyers and judges were women. Elsewhere in society and the economy the pattern is an interesting one. Less than forty percent of Brazil's adult women are active, it seems, in the formal economy. But one must be careful because the alternative informal economy of unregistered and unregulated work is estimated to be large and growing.

As far as it can be measured, government statistics have found that most women in work are grouped into just a few main categories. For instance, 17% are occupied in wholesale or retail, 16% as domestic servants and employees in private households, 14% in agriculture or forestry pursuits and twelve percent in manufacturing, both large-scale and small-scale. In addition, a further 13% of women work in community services including health and social services and an additional ten percent in education, heavily concentrated at the low or middle levels of teaching or administration.

A really prominent example, though, of women's progress in recent years is in the field of education. Not only are there more female higher education students than males these days but the overall literacy figures throughout Brazil's society show that women slightly overtake men these days. In both cases the figure is just above 88%. This can only point positively to a workforce even better equipped these days to contribute well to the economy and to the life of the country on a wider scale. There's no doubt that this can only promise good results for returns on investment in Brazil, among many other aspects of this leading BRICS nation.

A highly respected Investment News Website is predicting that investments in Brazil will double over the next 12 Months, Many of these investments will be in the governments own Minha Casa Minha Vida Social Housing programme, meaning it's the ideal time to Invest In Brazil.

Politics and Governance of Brazil helping Investment in the Country Rise

Over the last three hundred years Brazil has experienced a number of different political systems. The earliest of these was when the territory was an agricultural colony, directly administered by the mother country Portugal. Gradually, immigration from Portugal and later from other European countries helped the population to swell with incomers from across the sea and the work and money they provided as important developmental investments in Brazil.



Over the last three hundred years Brazil has experienced a number of different political (and therefore economic) systems. The earliest of these was when the territory was an agricultural colony, directly administered by the mother country Portugal (and including only a relatively small coastal part of the current 3.3 million square mile nation). Gradually, immigration from Portugal and later from other European countries helped the population to swell with incomers from across the sea and the work and money they provided as important developmental investments in Brazil.

As the European domination spread northwards and westwards, governance changed as the scale of the dominion expanded. The local Amerindian populations were dominated, intermarried with, enslaved and dispossessed and to them were added the large numbers of African slaves brought in to the country to work on the white-owned farms and plantations. The Brazilian economy was taking off, although not of course on foundations any 21st century democrat would approve of. Nearly two hundred years ago, in 1822, Brazil provided a refuge for an exiled branch of the Portuguese royal family under Prince Pedro, the son of King John. The country formally became an independent empire under him and his successors as Emperor, which it remained for most of the nineteenth century until 1889. At that point there was a coup led by the military to establish an authoritarian type of 'republic'. This nominal structure, interspersed with dictatorships, lasted on and off in different forms for nearly a century.

More or less democratic elections were held for the first time in 1985. Since then there have been numerous parties and coalitions providing a number of different governments, nearly all of them compromises between many different factions. Broadly speaking, though most of the numerous parties can be said to fall into one or the other of two broad groups, internationally-oriented 'liberals' who hold that the country must be part of the wider world economy and nationalistic 'statists' who believe in state intervention in industry and commerce.

The commentator Ridenti has quoted the Cardoso Government as an example of the former, while the most recent Workers Party-led governments of ‘Lula’ da Silva or Dilma Rousseff represent the latter. However, these are broad brush-stroke classifications at best and elements of both do actually exist within either, although the proportions are different. At national level, the Government of Brazil has two Houses, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The third branch of administration, the so-called Executive is provided by the President and the members of the Cabinet. However, as a Federal Republic, there is a regional tier of government provided by the twenty-six states and their administrations plus an autonomous Federal District around the capital, Brasilia.

Finally there is the most 'local' manifestation of government and politics, the municipal level, comprising the mayors and councils running the towns and cities (no real legal distinction between the two). These three layers of government do have frictions and problems between them but generally speaking the interaction between the levels runs reasonably well. Each has its laid-out responsibilities, constitutions, budgets and laws and each can have an important effect on investment in Brazil, both domestic and international

A highly respected Investment News Website is predicting that investments in Brazil will double over the next 12 Months, Many of these investments will be in the governments own Minha Casa Minha Vida Social Housing programme, meaning it's the ideal time to Invest In Brazil.

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 .