THE GIANT AND THE BEAUTIFUL - Few people know however that Brazil (together with China) is the fastest growing country on the planet with amazing possibilities for foreign investors. Growing at a rate of 7,5% this year, Brazil has experienced an exponential economic and industrialization growth. Here are some impressive data on Brazil: (a) it is the third largest jet aircraft manufacturer in the world- Embraer which is only exceeded by US Boeing and European Airbus. (b) it is the fifth largest car producer in the world, (c) the third largest producer and consumer of computers, (d) the fifth largest producer and consumer of mobile phones. The country has also been blessed by natural resources which are un-paralleled in other parts of the globe. It has about 20% of all potable water on the planet, and has the largest and longest river in the world, the majestic Amazon River which flows through the fantastic Amazon forest, the “lungs” of the planet. With its continental dimension (8.500.000 km2, the fifth largest country on earth), Brazil has one of the most arable lands in the world and therefore strong agricultural bases which couple with its industrial might. Accordingly, it reached the highest world production in grains (soybeans, corn , black beans and rice), poultry, bovine beef, fruits, coffee, orange juice and ethanol.

Brazil is the only country in the world since 1973 which developed viable forms of alternative energy other than oil. Today the country has the largest ethanol production based on sugar cane. It developed the technology for the most productive conversion of sugar cane bagasse into ethanol and today 40% of all vehicle in Brazil are powered by pure ethanol. In addition, it has developed deep sea oil drilling technology and today Brazil is within the
five major oil producers in the world. As a result, Brazilian car industries developed the technology of “flex” auto engines powered either by ethanol or gasoline.

Brazil possesses one of the most liberal foreign investment laws in the world. There is no limitation or restriction on foreign investor ?s ability to either repatriate capital or remit profits thereon. There is no tax on either payment, credit or remittance on dividends as these are considered to be taxed in the books of the company which produced and distributed such dividends. There is little restriction on the types of economic activities (except for those which deal with national security); therefore foreign investor can participate in any sort of economic activity provided that it undertakes its activities

in accordance with the law. The investment can be made in any foreign currency and it does not need to be the currency of the domicile of the foreign investor ?s national country. Therefore, for instance, Europeans can make their foreign investment in US dollar and the US investors can make their investments in Euros. Foreign investment can also be made in the form of equipment and certain types of credits.

On equipment, as long as the equipment age is less than 10 years and has no Brazilian similar produced equipment. It can be exported in consideration for shares in the company to which the equipment is transferred. For credits, the most commonly accepted form is the conversion of royalties into equity. Therefore if the foreign company enters into a technological agreement with a Brazilian company (the recipient) it can transform its royalties into shares of the capital of the recipient company, i.e., the licensee. So royalties would then be transformed into future dividends which can be interesting if the licensee is a promising lucrative business for the licensor.

Today the following is to be deemed highly attractive business areas for investments in Brazil: (1) the fabrication of solar and wind power equipment as alternative forms of energy; (2) the manufacturing of fine chemistry for the production of pharmaceutical products; (3) the fabrication of any medical imaging devices and equipment specially the MRI- magnetic resonance imaging equipment; (4) avionics; (5) and sophisticated machine tooling industries.