A couple of recent international forays into the Brazilian market show a wider trend of foreign interest in the country across a spectrum of sectors and some important ideas for Australian businesses looking into the market.
Firstly, South African systems technology specialist Denel Dynamics has highlighted a few important new factors in the Brazilian business environment upon opening an office in interior São Paulo. The company pointed out that South Africa´s formal inclusion in the BRIC group of countries, now known as BRICS, has been one of its key motivators, with the associated potential for increased country to country cooperation a big opportunity. Additionally, Denel mentioned the possibility for South Africa to become a gateway for Brazil into Africa; an idea reminiscent of recent calls for Australia to promote itself as an entry point for Brazil into the Asian market.
Furthermore, Jan Wessels, CEO of Denel Dynamics, stated that they intend to position themselves to “partner rather than compete” with Brazil’s industrial players and internal expertise; an important idea for Australian businesses given our many sectoral commonalities with Brazil.
In the second development, DMSManagement, the largest fund governance firm serving the hedge fund industry, has opened an office in Sao Paulo, marking the firm's first venture in the South American market. The move is described as an important part of DMS's global strategy and commitment to localised client service; the latter a key consideration when doing business in Brazil.
Francine Balbina heads the new office and commented that the move allows them to serve as a single point of contact to ensure efficient and seamless service delivery, where nothing gets lost in translation across multiple service providers. Don Seymour, founder and a Managing Director of DMS, echoed this sentiment by pointing out that, although they have extensive experience advising Brazilian clients, the new office will ensure they continue to deliver exceptional service in facilitating this demand within cultural expectations.