Mayor Kasim Reed will travel to Brazil from April 5-12, 2014 on a trade mission to encourage foreign direct investment in the metropolitan Atlanta region and help small-to- medium-sized local businesses identify and grow their export opportunities with the world's seventh-largest economy. The Mayor's Office of International Affairs with the support of Invest Atlanta, the Metro Atlanta Chamber, the Georgia Department of Economic Development and Brazilian American Chamber of Commerce of the Southeast US will organize the agenda on his first trade mission to Brazil.
"Since the beginning of my administration, one of my top priorities has been exploring and creating economic development opportunities to improve Atlanta's position as a market for international trade and commerce," said Mayor Reed. "I am confident that this trade mission to Brazil will strengthen Atlanta's position as an international economic capital, expand opportunities for our businesses and foster job creation."
Brazil represents Georgia's eight-largest export market. In 2012, Georgia exported $1.01 billion in goods to Brazil. Brazil ranks second among Georgia's Latin American investors based on total employment and total number of facilities.
"One of Invest Atlanta's primary goals as the City of Atlanta's job creation arm is to help our small and medium businesses engage more deeply in international trade because those that do experience greater revenue growth and weather recessions better than non-exporters," said Brian McGowan, Invest Atlanta President and CEO. "We are excited that Mayor Reed is leading this trade mission to Brazil's economy is very large and stable with lots of opportunity to attract investment and increase our exports."
"Connecting companies to international business opportunities is integral to what we do at MAC. This trip presents a great opening to introduce our metro Atlanta companies to this important market while connecting our colleges and universities with companies and institutions in Brazil. We also look forward to telling the Atlanta story to multiple Brazilian companies that seek to expand their operations in our market."
Atlanta has many unique assets that make it an ideal platform for trade with Brazil: Delta has non-stop routes from Atlanta to Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo and has a strategic partnership with GOL, a leading Brazilian airline; Atlanta is home to the Consulate General of Brazil, which maintains a Trade Bureau; the State of Georgia maintains an international trade office in Sao Paulo; and, the Brazilian American Chamber of Commerce of the Southeast US is headquartered in Atlanta. With the impending 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, there are significant business opportunities in a wide range of sectors, including: energy, construction/design, engineering, medical, education (technical training), security, and logistics industries.
The cities selected for this trip, which include Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, were carefully chosen because of established networks and opportunities. The delegation will participate in roundtable meetings, plenary sessions with influential city and regional government officials, and other business-to-business matchmaking opportunities in each city, coordinated by the U.S. Foreign Commercial Service.