Gov. Sonny Perdue, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Ken Stewart, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development welcome Consul General Adalnio Ganem. WATCH VIDEO ALSO: Georgia's quest to be the secretariat of the Free Trade Area of the Americas is stalled, but the new Brazilian consulate is one of many results of the heightened interaction with Latin America fostered by that pursuit. - WATCH VIDEO

Gov. Sonny Perdue welcomed the Consulate General of Brazil in the Southeast to Georgia in a press conference at the state Capitol Feb. 6.

When the consulate begins operations in Atlanta in May, it could become one of the state’s largest.

Adalnio Senna Ganem, Brazil's new consul general here, said that the consulate could employ 20-30 people and will emphasize business, cultural and educational exchanges between the South American nation and Georgia.

Mr. Perdue said that renewable energy could be a specific area of cooperation, citing energy independence as one of Georgia’s goals.

Timothy Perry - WATCH VIDEO

The governor said that Brazil is the world’s largest producer of ethanol, which is produced primarily from sugarcane there.  Georgia is looking to attract more alternative energy companies to the state.  Broomfield, Colo.-based Range Fuels LLC is to produce ethanol from wood chips at its first commercial plant in Soperton opening later this year.

Mr. Perdue also said that the re-establishment of a Brazilian consulate in the state is the culmination of seven years work between a number of individuals and organizations within Georgia.

A previous consulate in Atlanta was forced to close following the 1996 Olympic Games due to economic stress on the Brazilian government.

Ken Stewart - WATCH VIDEO

Brazil opened an honorary consulate in Atlanta in 2000 and Timothy Perry, an attorney with Atlanta law firm Miller & Martin PLLC, served as honorary consul until Mr. Ganem’s arrival.  He said that the establishment of a full-time consulate was a natural step in the growing relationship between the two locales.

“Businesses from Brazil have become more and more aware of Georgia as a market, and Georgia companies have become more and more aware of the importance of Brazil as the eighth largest economy in the world,” Mr. Perry told GlobalAtlanta.

Ken Stewart, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, said that the establishment of this consulate might revive efforts to make Atlanta the secretariat, or base city, of a Free Trade Area of the Americas, a stalled initiative aimed at implementing a free trade agreement between all Western Hemisphere countries.

Sam Williams - WATCH VIDEO

“We’re still hoping the secretariat will be located somewhere, and we believe that Georgia’s the place for it,” he said.  “The decision by President (Luiz Lula da Silva) in Brazil to locate a consulate here is a very important move towards the secretariat.”

These sentiments were echoed by Sam Williams, president of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, who added that Brazil, along with China and India, is one of the chamber’s top emerging markets.

Mr. Ganem later met with members of the Brazilian community in Atlanta at the International Center for Business Relations near the Cobb Galleria.  He said that he is to move his family from his previous post in Miami to Georgia this month.

The Atlanta consulate has jurisdiction over Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.