Dubai: It’s time to look beyond Latin America’s football legends to trade possibilities. One way to start is to look at bolstering business-to-business ties.
“Latin America has to be known across the world by the capacity and expertise of its business leaders and corporations,” said Marcos Prado Troyjo, President of New Development Bank. “It’s important that Latin American brands are more and more out there. In 2002, Brazil and China trade stood at $1 billion a year, as opposed to $1 billion every 60 hours in 2022.”
“The global value chains and the inflows of FDI are being reconfigured at the same time. This will create the right landscape for Latin America to be known beyond its great sportspeople.”
Invitation to reform
Latin America is clearly a frontier that’s been in the sights of the UAE for the last decade, but the message after the pandemic is to make accelerate this process. Troyjo said one of the reasons why Southeast Asia has expanded so much over the past three decades is because of its connection to global supply chains. These countries adopted a trading model, while Latin American economies remained insular.
“Reforming means you’re increasing your capacity to compete globally, and your capacity to absorb foreign direct investment,” said Troyjo. “We have wasted precious time, but some of those favorable conditions are emerging again. So, this the time for another renewed invitation for Latin America’s countries to reform.
“There’s great demand for food and commodities, and Latin America is a very important piece in that geometry to fill in the gap.
A dynamic tomorrow
“I believe we are one of the most dynamic frontiers for infrastructure investment, be it in a green investment or privatisations over the next decade. This will take place in Latin American countries like Brazil. It’s only natural that economies such as the UAE will have their eyes focused on that dynamic process.”
