Politics & Government

Mayor Reed to Lead Upcoming Trade Mission to Brazil

Kasim Reed will lead a delegation of Atlanta-based companies and officials from Invest Atlanta, the Metro Atlanta Chamber and the Brazilian American Chamber of Commerce of the Southeast US to explore new business opportunities in Brazil.

Patch Staff Report

Brazil represents Georgia’s eight-largest export market and in 2012, Georgia exported $1.01 billion in goods to Brazil. The South American country also ranks second among Georgia’s Latin American investors based on total employment and total number of facilities.

With that in mind, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed will travel to Brazil from April 5-12, 2014 on a trade mission to encourage foreign direct investment in the metropolitan Atlanta region and help small-to- medium-sized local businesses identify and grow their export opportunities with the world’s seventh-largest economy.

The Mayor’s Office of International Affairs with the support of Invest Atlanta, the Metro Atlanta Chamber, the Georgia Department of Economic Development and Brazilian American Chamber of Commerce of the Southeast US will organize the agenda on his first trade mission to Brazil.

“Since the beginning of my administration, one of my top priorities has been exploring and creating economic development opportunities to improve Atlanta’s position as a market for international trade and commerce,” said Reed in a news release. “I am confident that this trade mission to Brazil will strengthen Atlanta’s position as an international economic capital, expand opportunities for our businesses and foster job creation.”

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On Tuesday, Jan. 21, The City’s Office of International Affairs, in partnership with the Brazilian American Chamber of Commerce of the Southeast, will welcome a delegation of IT companies from Brazil to Atlanta.

“Brazil is one of the most dynamic economies in the world,” said Mayor Kasim Reed. “We welcome the opportunity to showcase Atlanta’s thriving business and technology sectors, and believe that this delegation will not only further our area’s global competitiveness, but allow local businesses to tap into new international markets.”

The delegation will be comprised of Brazilian technology leaders offering various services and products targeting software and tech decision makers at Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 companies in Atlanta. These rapidly growing organizations have been selected and promoted by the Brazilian Government and by Softex (the Association for the Promotion of Brazilian Software Excellence).

In addition to presentations on each company and the Brazilian IT Industry as a whole, top executives from Clip, BRtoken, STA Holding, OPEN and HDI will be present for one-on-one meetings with potential partners and clients.

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With regards to the trip in April, Brian McGowan, Invest Atlanta President and CEO, said Brazil’s economy holds “lots of opportunity to attract investment and increase our exports.”

“One of Invest Atlanta’s primary goals as the City of Atlanta’s job creation arm is to help our small and medium businesses engage more deeply in international trade because those that do experience greater revenue growth and weather recessions better than non-exporters,” said McGowan said in a news release.

Atlanta has many unique assets that make it an ideal platform for trade with Brazil: Delta Air Lines has non-stop routes from Atlanta to Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo and has a strategic partnership with GOL, a leading Brazilian airline; Atlanta is home to the Consulate General of Brazil, which maintains a Trade Bureau; the State of Georgia maintains an international trade office in Sao Paulo; and, the Brazilian American Chamber of Commerce of the Southeast US is headquartered in Atlanta. With the impending 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, there are significant business opportunities in a wide range of sectors, including: energy, construction/design, engineering, medical, education (technical training), security, and logistics industries.

The cities selected for this trip, which include Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, were carefully chosen because of established networks and opportunities. The delegation will participate in roundtable meetings, plenary sessions with influential city and regional government officials, and other business-to-business matchmaking opportunities in each city, coordinated by the U.S. Foreign Commercial Service. 

For more information on the trip, companies should contact Noah Downer of the Mayor’s Office of International Affairs at nwdowner@atlantaga.gov or 404-614-8331.

The City of Atlanta provided information for this report that was edited for publication.


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