(Left to Right) Lucia Jennings, Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce of Georgia; Fabio Yamada, American Chamber of Commerce in Sao Paulo; Robert West, Greenberg Traurig LLP.

Speaking at the Southern Center for International Studies in Atlanta, Fabio Yamada, managing director of the American Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Department of Economic Development in Sao Paulo, Brazil, said that business opportunities for American companies are improving in Brazil.

He tempered his optimism with statements about the challenges facing a U.S. company there.

Mr. Yamada said that Georgia-based companies are better off importing from Brazil now than five years ago, due to increasing cultural and economic ties between the two locales.

Rio de Janeiro, a coastal city and a center of Brazilian wealth, is a sister city of Atlanta.  Georgia has a sister-state relationship with the northeastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco.  A Brazilian Consulate was recently opened in Atlanta, giving the country a local diplomatic representative.

Mr. Yamada added that Brazilian and American business styles are similar and business-people in the two countries share values in negotiations.

Brazil is “ahead of the curve” in the IT, telecommunications and software industries and Georgia companies would benefit from outsourcing there rather than to China or India because Brazil is more easily accessible and is in the Eastern Standard time zone, Mr. Yamada said.

Brazil is easily accessible to Georgia business people with 21 weekly flights out of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Mr. Yamada added that Brazilian companies are exploiting the country’s vast natural resources to become experts in converting tree parts into cellulose and sugar-cane into ethanol, providing sources of renewable energy.

There are many limiting factors faced by Georgia companies interested in moving or exporting to Brazil.

The Brazilian government utilizes a self-protection economic policy to “impose as many barriers as possible to discourage imports,” Mr. Yamada said.

Georgia companies should also be ready for high taxes, red tape and governmental corruption in some areas, he added.

Seven percent of Brazil’s population, located in the major cities of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are very wealthy while much of the population is very poor.

Mr. Yamada encouraged Georgia businesses interested in cooperating with Brazil to work with the American chamber in Sao Paulo, which is growing at a rate of approximately 10 companies per year.

At the end of the presentation, when an audience member asked what first step a company interested in working with Brazil should take, another audience member replied, “Call Fabio.”

The Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce in Georgia can be reached by calling (404) 880-1551 or by e-mail at info@bacc-ga.com.  Mr. Yamada can be reached at the American Chamber of Commerce in Sao Paulo by calling (55-11) 5180-3804, or e-mailing amhost@amcham.com.br.