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As
Brazil’s fastest growing region, the State of Minas
Gerais enjoys some enviable conditions. This is
precisely why local and foreign investors have been
striving to guarantee their participation in the Minas
industry.
The USA - Europe - Brazil Trade Council knows about
many opportunity “niches” and is prepared to answer
questions regarding investment allocation in these promising
activities.
Nearly all economic segments, whether consolidated or
potential, bear the imprint of a value-adding process
enhancing Minas-made products as well as the imprint of
technological and tourism development.
A solid and far-reaching basic industry plus a farming
and cattle-breeding sector producing a wide-ranging
scope of raw material clearly suggest the state’s
potential for a more elaborate production. Likewise, the
relative youth of some sectors (such as electro &
electronics, mechanical engineering, agro industrial and
chemical) and the growing evolution of education and
universities combined with research centers foster the
development of a technology-based industry.
Combined with the government’s strong will to bring
development to all regions in the state, tourism is one
of the industrial segments featuring a better
cost-benefit ratio. Minas’ historic, artistic and
natural resources as well as the organization of its
society, endowed with the basic elements of
infrastructure and safety, are excellent advantages for
the tourism industry.
The continuous expansion in electric-power generation
and distribution points to an unmet demand for equipment
used by these activities.
Ongoing programs to improve the transportation
infrastructure and the increase in construction activity
(housing, industrial and commercial) favor the
development of the segment for civil-construction
machinery and equipment.
The outlook is also good for the auto-parts and
automotive supply industry, particularly with the
implementation of new factories for Fiat in the Greater
Belo Horizonte Metropolitan Area and for Mercedes-Benz
in the leading Southeastern Minas city of Juiz de Fora.
Another promising activity is that of agro-industry,
especially given the expansion and the improvement in
farming, whose growth is already being translated into a
greater demand for agricultural machinery, implements
and new processing techniques.
There are also good indicators of a growing demand for
inputs in the production of packaging materials and
cellulose, analytical instruments, hospital products and
foundry equipment.
In the construction-material industry, for instance,
perspectives are bright for the production of
high-technology ceramic roof tiles, especially if
investments are made in a new type of
ceramics-and-cement tile, which is
being increasingly accepted by the construction market.
Given the existence of homogeneous forests and
considering that Minas Gerais harbors Brazil’s largest
reforested area, wood products (plywood, boards, door
frames, furniture, etc.) ought to be better represented in the state
economy.
Ongoing
training and well educated personnel resources are
available. Education is one of the main government
priorities. |
