Brazil: The Leading Candidate for Technology Industry Growth
Eduard Weichselbaumer, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, CEITEC S.A.
The technology industry is usually defined by five geographies: North America; Europe,
the Middle East and Africa (EMEA); Japan; China; and the rest of the world (ROW),
which is often assumed to mean "all the other Asian countries."
It seems as if South America has been all but forgotten. But this is a good thing. Why?
Because today, South America represents the largest and most adaptable geography for
technology industry growth.
The key driver of this growth is Brazil. The country has the world's fifth-largest population
and the eighth-largest economy. Both the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and
the World Bank estimate that it will become the fourth-largest economy by 2012. Bank
of America Merrill Lynch forecasted that the Brazilian stock market will be valued at
over $160 billion by 2013. Furthermore, the country had the most stable currency in South
America for over 15 years.
And there's still a huge window of opportunity. Over 100 million economically
active Brazilians are still working toward their first home, first car and first computer. The
country's housing market is expected to grow by 1.6 million units by 2017, clearly far short
of need. PricewaterhouseCoopers recently noted that in 15 years, Brazil's largest city San
Paulo will be one of the most important cities in the world in terms of consumption.
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