You say "Brazil" and it would be very likely to happen to start thinking about sunny beaches, Copacabana, Christ the Redeemer, Carnival with its colors. Not that easy to link it with business. What a huge mistake.
Numbers:
Brazil and Italy, for example, exchange almost 8BN Euros per year. As Italians we mainly export technology, machineries and electronic devices and support, F&A; and this trend resist over time and crisis. Our Import focus, on the contrary concerns: raw materials, paper, cellulose, coffee, soy, and so on.
12th market for export, 7th for import. This is the reason why, over the next few years, keeping up this trade trend and increasing the investments in Brazil could be profitable, despite the recent recession period, and the huge crisis suffered by the latin american "giant".
Where:
São Paulo, the place to be when we're talking about business, and its inner region, is for sure the most industrialized district; by the way, many Italian (and European) companies are over and over settling in the northeastern and central area of the country.
Pros:
humongous potential, natural wealth and resources are the leading paths to follow.
The Brazilian government is lately adopting several measures that might encourage the foreign companies to evaluate the Country as a place to settle and open a local branch.
Labor costs are not that high, and the very vast audience and revenues may suggest to have done the right choice.
Cons:
Customs are very strict and rigid, import taxes and expenses seem to be pretty affecting for what concerns final prices (we need to consider that, hence the costs paid by consumers, middle class might struggle to afford some kind of goods)
Positive initiatives:
Until dec. 31st 2021, Brazil will keep implementing a No Custom Duties Policy on a very large base of lacking goods and products, such as certain categories of electronic components, machineries, rotors, conditioning systems and so on.
Our perception is that Brazil, over the next few years, will be the "next big thing" in terms of business chances and opportunities;
And, of course, at the same time, we remind to look at them very carefully, since the peculiarities of this wealthy but sui generis country.