Brazil is one of the key countries in the developing world. Brazil's role in the global economy Growth conditions and drivers
Since the mid-90s. economic reforms began in the country, the implementation of the program of socio-economic transformations "Plan Real" was launched, and the country's transition to a market economy began. The government managed to achieve permanent and therefore. decrease in inflation (from 2.5 thousand% in 1993 to 5.97% in 2004), which made it possible to increase consumption. demand, which in turn led to an increase in industrial and agricultural production.
Brazil's economic achievements gave rise to its inclusion (in accordance with the UN classifications) in the group of "newly industrialized countries". In the resolution held on November 27, 2000. At the meeting of the IMF Board of Directors in Washington, which approved the results of the sixth (after the IMF was granted a stabilization loan to Brazil in 1998) revision of Brazil by the IMF experts, satisfaction was expressed with the country's recovery from the crisis, the progress of development and the prospects of the Brazilian economy. At the same time, the IMF believes that Brazil is still in the zone of influence of the int. fin. crises as it continues to mean. degree to depend on foreign borrowing necessary to settle their domestic and foreign debt obligations.
In 2004. improved economic ranking of Brazil in the international arena. Thus, according to the non-governmental organization "World Economic Forum", which has the status of a UN consultant, in terms of growth in competitiveness, Brazil moved from 51st place in the world in 1999. at 46 in 2004, and according to the current competitiveness rating Brazil is in 2004. 31st in the world compared to 35th in 1999
According to the UN's Human Development Index, Brazil moved up from 79th place in 1999. to 74th place in 2004.
Brazil's rating in the securities market also improved. According to Int. Moodys agency risk assessment of Brazil in 2001. had a B2 grade (on a scale from C to AAA - zero risk). Another agency, Standard & Poors, rates the degree of risk in trading Brazilian securities as B + (Russia has B-). Brazilian government securities due 2009 have a risk degree of 6.63% (with a risk degree of US Treasury securities equal to 0), and with maturity in 2027. - 7.3% (Russia - 9%).
The improvement of Brazil's position on the international securities market is also evidenced by the fact that already in August 2000. the most popular Brazilian securities, C-Bonds, which are the main indicator of “Brazilian risk” on the int. market, traded on the São Paulo Stock Exchange at a price of $ 0.7675. This means that their quotation returned to the level preceding the "up. crisis ", when in July 1998. they were sold at a price of $ 0.7650. In December 2000. the cost of the Brazilian C-Bonds increased to $ 0.7725.
In 2004. in Brazil, the corruption situation worsened. According to the results of a survey carried out by the German non-governmental organization Transparencia International in 90 countries of the world, Brazil in terms of corruption (starting from zero) has moved up from 45th place in 1999. to 49th place in 2004. Russia occupies 83rd place in this list.
Large foreign investments, the size of which in 2000. is estimated at $ 30.6 billion, which means. revenues from privatization in 6.8 billion dollars, growth of gold and foreign exchange reserves to 32.9 billion dollars. (28.5 billion dollars in May 2000), a gradual reduction in the refinancing rate of the Central Bank from 19% in January. 2000 up to 15.75% in Dec. 2000, gave Brazil the opportunity to reach in 2000. good macroeconomic indicators.
According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (BIGS), GDP growth in 2005. amounted to 4.2% (industry - + 6.4%, agriculture - + 2.9%, services - +3.6), which is the best result since 1995. At the same time, the share of industry in the total GDP is 32.9%, agriculture - 7.1%, services - 52.7%.
Table 1 Dynamics of economic growth in Brazil, in%
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Industry |
Agriculture |
Services sector |
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In 2005. in absolute terms, GDP at market prices amounted to R $ 1.065 trillion ($ 581.9 billion). According to the Central Bank, GDP of Brazil in 2003. in market prices amounted to 899.8 billion reais (775.5 billion dollars), in 2004. - RR 1,013 billion ($ 558.2 billion). Taking this into account, the average annual income per capita in 2005. estimated at 6,032 reais ($ 3,482). In 2004. the average annual income per capita was 5860 reais (3387 dollars), in 2003. - 6192 reais (5337 dollars).
In 2000. in Brazil, the next population census was carried out (the previous population census was carried out in 1991). In 1991-2000. the population of Brazil increased from 146,825,475 people. up to 169,544,443 people (racial ratio: whites - 54%, blacks - 5.7%, mulattoes and mestizos - 39.5%, yellows - 0.5%, Indians - 0.2%). The average annual population growth rate in the past decade was 1.63%, which is the lowest indicator in the entire history of the census.
According to a study by the Brazilian Institute for Applied Economic Research (IPEA), c. 1999 13.6 million people (8.7% of the total population) lived below the poverty line; 54.4 million Brazilians (34.9% of the population) are classified as poor. The poor in Brazil are people who earn insufficient means to meet basic living needs. The indigent in Brazil are those who are able to feed themselves, but do not have the means to buy clothes and shelter.
According to the WB experts, in order to at least halve the number of Brazilians living in poverty, Brazil should have an average annual GDP growth of 6% over the next 15 years.
In 2004. according to the Ministry of Labor, employment of the population increased by 3.2% compared to 2003. During the year, 657.6 thousand new jobs were created. In addition, for 489.6 thousand people. the number of contractors working without a formalized work book has increased. At the same time, the unemployment rate dropped from 7.56% of the economically active population at the end of 2003. up to 7.46% - at the end of 2004. (the average annual unemployment rate in 2004 was 7.1% compared to 7.6% in 2003). At the same time, the average annual unemployment rate was: in the manufacturing industry - 7.5%, in civil construction - 8.7%, in trade - 5.8%. In the largest industrial centers of the country, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the average annual unemployment rate in 2004. was 7.4% and 5.2%, respectively.
In April 2004. The National Congress passed legislation raising the minimum wage from R $ 136 ($ 75) to R $ 151 ($ 85). In 2000. the annual growth rate of consumer prices decreased to 5.97% compared to 8.94% in 2003. This happened despite the mean. growth (30.75%) during the year in gasoline prices. The cost of the “food basket” in São Paulo remained practically unchanged. If in December 2003. its cost was equal to 139 reais (77 dollars), then in December 2004. The “food basket” cost R $ 141 ($ 73).
Introduction
1.2 Features of the economic model of Brazil
3.2 Problems and prospects for the development of the Brazilian economy
Conclusion
Applications
Introduction
Brazil is the largest country in terms of area and population in South America and the only Portuguese-speaking country in America. It is in fifth place among countries in the world in terms of area and in fifth in terms of population. Occupies the eastern and central part of the mainland. The capital is Brasilia. The greatest length from north to south 4320 km, from east to west 4328 km.
Brazil has the eighth largest nominal GDP economy in the world and the seventh largest GDP measured in purchasing power parity. The official and practically the only spoken language of the country is Portuguese. By religion, the majority of Brazilians are Catholics, making Brazil the country with the largest Catholic population in the world.
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the place of Brazil in the world market.
The following tasks are consistently solved in the work:
)the economy of Brazil at the present stage is considered;
2)the place of Brazil in the world economy is considered;
)the problems and prospects of development of the Brazilian economy are considered.
The object of the research is the Brazilian economy.
The subject of research is its external and internal markets.
The work consists of ______ pages: introduction, three chapters, conclusion, bibliography and appendices.
brazil world economy integration
1. The economy of Brazil at the present stage
1.1 General characteristics of the Brazilian economy: industry, agriculture, services
Since the global economic crisis in the 1930s, and especially since World War II, Brazil has undergone profound changes. Its economy, which for a long time focused on the export of mineral raw materials and some products of agriculture and forestry, has made a breakthrough in the development of the manufacturing industry in recent decades. In addition, the life of the country has been deeply influenced by the processes of urbanization. Although after the Second World War, industry outstripped agriculture in terms of development, the latter also did not stand still. The country entered the world market as one of the largest sugar suppliers and took the second place in the production of soybeans. It remains the world leader in coffee production and supplies significant quantities of cocoa and cotton. Brazil satisfies its needs for most of the basic foodstuffs - rice, beans, corn and meat. In recent years, Brazil has achieved significant success in the development of industry and has turned from an agrarian to an industrial-agrarian country. In 1997, the average per capita income was approximately $ 4.7 thousand (in 1996 - 3.1 thousand, and in 1989 - 2 thousand). The most economically developed are the central and southeastern states, and the least developed are the northeastern states.
Brazil is the third country in the world in the production of sea vessels, it ranks fifth in the production of tractors, the sixth in the production of military equipment (excluding weapons of mass destruction), as well as medium and small turboprop aircraft, the seventh in the production of cars, ninth in production metalworking and press-forging equipment.
Brazil is an active participant in world economic relations.
In 2010, Brazil's imports increased compared to 2009 by 154% - up to 6 million. The reason for such a spasmodic rise was the favorable exchange rate of the national currency against the dollar, euro and currencies of Asian countries, the stability of the national economy and investment plans implemented in 2010.
The republic is among the 10 states - the largest recipients of foreign capital. In recent years, the country itself began to export capital. This is facilitated by its active participation in the development of regional economic associations.
Good conditions in the construction and automotive industries, as well as in the production of consumer electronics provide a significant increase in demand for metal products in the country in the country. Until now, the national industry has satisfied just over 90% of the required consumption. In 2010, due to the growth of the national currency, as well as due to the presence of excess capacity in the world steel market, the share of imports increased to 28%.
The demand for imported finished metal products required for the development of railway transport is growing.
Steel production in Brazil increased by 23.8% to the level of the previous year - to 32.8 million. The country produced more than half of the total volume of these products in all Latin American countries. At present, the capacity of enterprises of the metallurgical complex is 42.1 million per year.
Brazil's current economic successes are the result of the transition to an open economy model, structural reforms carried out since the early 1990s. and ensured the modernization of the entire economic mechanism. As part of the implementation of Plan Real (since 1994) and other macroeconomic decisions of a strategic nature, the national economy not only got rid of such birthmarks as uncontrolled inflation, but also acquired new dimensions and quality (see Table 1).
Table 1 - Main economic indicators of Brazil for 2000-2010
Indicator 2000 2005 2008 2010 Population, million people 170.7184.2192.0203 429 773 GDP, billion dollars, current prices 644.7882.41573.32024 GDP per capita, dollars, current prices 3755479 1752510 900 GDP growth rates ,% 4.33,25,17.5 Inflation rate,% 8.26,35,94.9 Exports, billions of dollars 55,1118,3197,9199.7 Imports, billions of dollars 55,1118,3173,1187, 7 Foreign direct investment, billions of dollars 32,815,145,118.5 Foreign exchange reserves, billions of dollars 33,053.8206.8290.9 External debt, billions of dollars 216.9169.5 198.4310.8 External debt / GDP,% 33,619,212,660.8
Source: https: // www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/br.html
The role of a number of advanced manufacturing industries has perceptibly increased, which was the result of government policy that determined and supported the strategic directions of development: the production of investment goods, medicines, semiconductors, and software. Particular attention was paid to improving the technological culture of production. As a result, by the end of the first decade of this century, local production provided 90% of the demand for industrial products, including more than 80% for machinery and equipment. The aircraft industry has grown rapidly from high-tech industries. Embraer has become the world's third largest aircraft manufacturer, second only to Boeing and Airbus.
The mining industry has gained significant weight. The country is the first producer of iron ore in the world, the second - of manganese and tantalum, and a de facto monopoly on niobium (over 95% of world production), is in the top five in the extraction of bauxite, tin, lithium, magnesium. The industry leader is CVRD, which accounts for up to a third of total mining. KVRD is the world's largest iron ore company and the second largest producer of manganese and ferroalloys. In 2006, KVRD acted powerfully as an investor and acquired a large Canadian firm, Canadian Mining, for almost $ 18 billion.
The energy sector has traditionally been the weakest link in the national economy. The solution to this problem has been found by diversifying energy resources and expanding the energy resource base. The development of new oil fields, primarily on the continental shelf, is called upon to play a key role. Brazil holds the record for deep water drilling and is producing at depths of up to 3,000 meters. According to Lula, in 2007-2009. in Brazil (mainly on the continental shelf), oil reserves were discovered, estimated at 50 billion barrels. Thanks to their development, the country can in the foreseeable future become one of the world's energy hubs, a major producer and exporter of hydrocarbons. The industry leader, the state-owned Petrobras, is already one of the largest business structures in the world. In 2009, the market capitalization of the Brazilian giant reached $ 200 billion - the third place in the global ranking after Exxon and Gazprom.
The trump card and a unique resource of the Brazilian economy is a highly developed and diversified agro-industrial complex (AIC). Since 1991, when prices for basic agricultural commodities were liberalized, agricultural production has grown at a high and steady pace (see Table 2).
Table 2 - Production of major grains and legumes (million tons)
Culture 1990/1991 1995/1996 2000/2001 2007/2008 Total 57,973,6100,3145.8 Soybeans15,423,238,459.9 Corn 24,132,442,358.7 Rice 10,010,010,412,1 Wheat3,13,23,26,0
Source: Banco Central do Brasil. RelatorioAnual 2009. Volume 44, p.29.
Today the country covers 92% of its food needs through domestic production, and this share tends to grow further. Brazil has become one of the first ranks of world food producers and exporters, and has become one of the guarantors of global food security.
Evidence of the country's success in the development of innovations was the formation within the agro-industrial complex of a new promising industry, which can be called the energy sector of agriculture. We are talking about a radical turn in the energy strategy, which began in 2007 in connection with the adoption of the "ethanol program". Brazil is already the world's leading producer of sugarcane biofuels, one of the few cost-effective renewable energy sources. The Ethanol Program promotes the development of technical cooperation with other leading countries of the innovative economy (USA, India) and creates new capacious sales markets for Brazilian exporters.
An important place in the macroeconomic modernization strategy is assigned to the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), the largest state credit institution with assets of over $ 220 billion. real sector companies, but also small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as numerous Brazilian exporters. In 2009 (at the height of the global crisis) BNDES provided loans in the amount of 74 billion dollars and played a significant role in mitigating the consequences of the recession, helped thousands of local producers to "survive"
Brazil usually has five major economic regions. The North, which includes the vast Amazon basin, occupies 45% of the country's area, where in the early 1990s lived 7% of the total population of the country. Despite the presence of several industrial centers, agriculture predominates, especially the cultivation of sugar cane, cotton and cocoa, as well as animal husbandry. The North-East (18% of the area and 29% of the country's population) is a densely populated agricultural region specializing in the cultivation of sugar cane. The South-East (11% of the area and 43% of the population) is the most developed region, producing more than 80% of Brazil's industrial products; in addition, agriculture in the area supplies most of the coffee, soybeans, sugar and livestock products. The South (7% of the area and 15% of the population) is an important agricultural region producing rice, wheat, soybeans, wine and meat. The rapidly developing industrial centers are also located here. In the Center-West region (19% of the area and 7% of the population), the leading industry is agriculture with a predominance of animal husbandry; in some areas soybeans, rice and other crops are cultivated.
Brazil still has the highest concentration of land tenure: 45% of the cultivable land is owned by 1% of owners, while the largest farms do not use more than 40% of the land. The unfair distribution of land leads to acute social conflicts, and the number of direct armed clashes between landless rural residents and the police is increasing.
Brazil ranks 6-7 in the world in terms of consumption of textile products.
The most developed sector of the economy is the service sector (including tourism), which employs 47% of the population; it brings 58% of the national income.
The service sector is the leading sector of the Brazilian economy - its share in GDP is 58%, while its various industries account for: transport and logistics - 9%, trade - 8%, financial services - 7%, communications and telecommunications - 6%, public administration and public works - 16%.
The South-East region accounts for 68% of the services produced in the country, the South - 14%, the North-East - 10%. Among the states the leaders are Sao Paulo - 43%, Rio de Janeiro - 15%, Minas Gerais - 8%.
.2 Features of the economic model of Brazil
Brazil's economy is very diverse, with significant variations between regions. The most developed industry is concentrated in the south and southeast of the country. The northeast is the poorest region in Brazil, but now it is also starting to attract new investment.
The main achievements of the government in the social sphere were the reduction of the unemployment rate to 7.5% of the country's EAN (in 2000, 600 thousand new jobs were created), as well as the adoption of a law on raising the minimum wage to $ 85.
Along with Russia, India and China, the Republic of Brazil is one of the most promising developing countries in terms of economic potential. Since 2000, the Brazilian economy has performed well. In the period 2000-2005. Brazil's GDP grew at an average annual rate of 2.5% in real terms. 2005 to 2007 the growth of the economy of this South American country accelerated even more. In 2007, Brazil's GDP amounted to 1.269 trillion. dollars, and, according to data published by the Institute of Geography and Statistics of Brazil, in 2007 GDP increased by 5.4% compared with the previous year, which is much more than this indicator for 2005 and 2006. (in 2005 and 2006 GDP growth was 3.2% and 3.8%, respectively). However, it should be noted that the growth of GDP per capita is much less: in 2007 - 3.9%, and in 2006-2005. only 2.3% and 1.5%, respectively. At the same time, there was an increase in industrial production: last year it was about 104.5%. Similar growth rates were achieved in the absence of high inflation in the country. In 2007, the consumer price index in Brazil was 4.1%, which was made possible by the implementation of a tight monetary policy by the Central Bank of Brazil.
The Brazilian federal budget is characterized by a constant deficit of 1-5% of GDP and, as a result, a large public debt.
It is also important for the Brazilian economy to completely overcome the external debt crisis, the causes of which date back to the 1970s, when the Brazilian government, forcing its industrialization policy, attracted more and more foreign loans and credits. The republic's dependence on industrially developed countries increased more and more, which turned out in the period 1980 - mid-1990s. debt crisis. This period was characterized by economic destabilization, a drop in growth rates, and a sharp increase in inflation, which reached four-digit levels. For five years in Brazil there was a decrease in GDP per capita: in 1980-1985. the average annual rate of economic decline was 1.2%. In the 1990s. there is a reduction in the public sector in the economy and liberalization of the foreign economic sphere. As a result of successful reforms, an efficiently functioning private sector is gradually being created. In Brazil, the process of economic restructuring begins. The manufacturing industry, which has been the driving force of economic development for a long time, is losing this role. There is a shift towards the extraction and primary processing of mineral raw materials and food products. These processes are accompanied by the recovery of the Brazilian economy and the reduction of external debt. So, in 1992, Brazil's external debt continued to make up a significant share of its GDP (since the GDP itself increased significantly) (see Table 3).
Table 3 - External debt of the Republic of Brazil
Indicator 1987199220072010 Public debt, billion dollars, including: 123.8121.11230.3254.1 Debt to GDP,% 43,831,318,215
Source: https: // www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/br.html#
In 2006, Brazil paid off its debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) ahead of schedule. Today Brazil still has an external debt of $ 254.1 billion, or about 15% of GDP, which is a perfectly acceptable figure even for developed countries. Also, the amount of domestic debt in the country has been consistently decreasing - throughout the 1990s. it did not fall below 60% of GDP. In 2006, Brazil's domestic debt amounted to 53% of its GDP, and last year this figure fell to 43.9% of GDP.
Brazil's strong economic growth can be attributed to the state of its workforce. The country's labor market has never experienced a shortage of labor, moreover, in Brazil, the growth rate of the economically active population usually exceeds the growth rate of the total population. Today the economically active population employed in the country's economy is 99.47 million people. Although the bulk of the population is employed in the service sector, a high percentage of the economically active population (20% of the total economically active population of Brazil) is employed in agriculture, allowing Brazil to retain its status as an agricultural country even with high growth rates of the manufacturing industry and the rapid development of the most high-tech industries. It is worth mentioning the high labor productivity of people employed in this sector. According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, in 2007, the country's gross agricultural output increased by 5.3% over the previous year, while the gross industrial output and gross service sector output increased by 4.9% and 4.7%. % respectively.
The bulk of the labor force still does not have a high general education level. Brazil lags behind a number of Latin American countries in terms of education spending. More emphasis is placed on higher education, often through funding for primary and secondary education. In addition, in Brazil, a relatively high unemployment rate for an industrial country, according to data for 2010, it was 6.9%.
Also, a significant problem for the Brazilian economy is the relatively high level of poverty (GDP per capita in Brazil in 2010 amounted to about 10.814 thousand dollars), as well as high differentiation of income of the population, as evidenced by the value of the Gini coefficient, equal to 56%.
At the same time, the growth rates of the economically active population of Brazil decreased significantly (from 2.5% in the 60-80s to 1.4% in 1990-2003).
Therefore, since 2006, the Brazilian government, continuing the course aimed at creating conditions for the inflow of foreign investment, increasing the efficiency of the use of domestic investments, reforming tax legislation and social security, education, medicine, as well as the development of the country's infrastructure complex, has set as its main tasks improving the quality of life of the population and reducing the significant gap in incomes between the poor and the rich.
Speaking about the Brazilian economy, it seems necessary to mention the changes taking place in the country's specialization. These changes relate to the weakening of the role of agriculture in the country's economy in one year, the share of agricultural products in the production of GDP decreased by 3%. Whereas in 2006 the contribution to the creation of Brazil's GDP was distributed among the sectors of the economy as follows: the service sector - 54%, industry - 38.0%, agriculture - 8.0%. In 2007, the share of the service sector increased significantly - 64% of GDP, the share of industry dropped to 31%, and the share of agriculture to 5%.
Along with the growth of GDP, it should be noted that the country manages to maintain relatively low inflation rates. In 2010, the inflation rate was 5.9%. At the same time, during the previous year, the government's policy and decisions in the credit and financial sphere were influenced by such factors as the instability of financial markets, trends in the development of the world economy (including the scenario of the US government's policy in the financial sphere). In addition, the development of the country in the financial sphere was influenced by the election campaigns for the replacement of high positions of the state, including the presidential elections. In 2006, the Brazilian government tried to maintain a flexible financial policy. On the one hand, it tried to keep inflation at the planned level - not higher than 4.6%, on the other hand, in the light of the election campaign, it needed to lower the discount rate of the Central Bank of Brazil, as its high level has been the object of harsh criticism in recent years from the business community.
The economy of modern Brazil is characterized by a well-developed agricultural, industrial production and a rapidly developing service sector. Brazil accounts for 2/3 of the industrial potential of the countries of South America and over half of their scientific and technological potential. The country is forecasting further growth in GDP and the welfare of the population.
Since the start of the global financial crisis in September 2008, Brazil's stock market - Bovespa - has lost 41% through December 30, 2008. Brazil's GDP growth slowed significantly in 2008 as global demand and commodity prices fell significantly. However, Brazil was the first developing country to start to recover from the crisis. Thanks to consumer and investor confidence, Brazil's GDP began to grow in the second quarter of 2009. Brazil's central bank expected GDP growth of 5% in 2010, but it even exceeded expectations and amounted to 7.5%. However, high rates of GDP growth dispersed inflation, which in 2010 amounted to almost 6%.
Thus, Brazil entered the world market as one of the largest sugar suppliers and took the second place in the production of soybeans. It remains the world leader in coffee production and supplies significant quantities of cocoa and cotton. Brazil satisfies its needs for most of the basic foodstuffs - rice, beans, corn and meat. In recent years, Brazil has achieved significant success in the development of industry and has turned from an agrarian to an industrial-agrarian country.
Along with Russia, India and China, the Republic of Brazil is one of the most promising developing countries in terms of economic potential.
2. Brazil's place in the world economy
2.1 Brazil's position in world trade
Brazil is the largest South American country in world trade. This state is traditionally one of the leading suppliers to the world market of a number of agricultural products - orange juice concentrate, coffee, raw sugar, tobacco, cocoa, soybeans, pork, beef and poultry meat.
From January to September 2010, Brazil's foreign trade amounted to US $ 277.1 billion, showing an increase of 36.9% over the same period in 2009, when foreign trade was US $ 202.4 billion.
In 2009, Brazil ranked 24th in the world in terms of exports (US $ 153 billion) and 26th in terms of imports (US $ 134 billion). For 9 months of 2010, Brazil exported goods worth 144.9 billion US dollars, and imported - 132.2 billion US dollars. Compared to 2009, the volume of Brazilian exports increased by 29.6%, and imports - by 45.8%.
Brazil's trade surplus (the difference between exports and imports) reached US $ 12.8 billion at the end of September 2010, and decreased by 39.7% compared to the same period in 2009, due to a significant increase in imports and a decrease in exports ... In 2009, Brazil's exports exceeded imports by US $ 21.2 billion.
In general, Brazil's foreign trade shows a recovery from the economic crisis, but the main problem remains the very high rate of the Brazilian real against the US dollar (RR 1.69-1.72 per US dollar), resulting in demand for Brazilian exports due to overpriced is reduced, and a lot of dollars accumulates in the country, for which, so that they do not depreciate, imported goods are bought.
Among the goods exported by Brazil in 2010, 53.2% are manufactured products and 39.7% are agricultural products (semi-finished products and goods).
As for the imports of Brazil, 46.3% is accounted for by the purchase of raw materials, 22.5% - by means of production. Imports of consumer goods account for 16.9% of Brazil's total imports, while fuels and fuels and lubricants account for 14.3%. Compared to 2009, the most significant growth in Brazilian imports was in the category of fuels and fuels and lubricants - an increase of 61.1%, followed by consumer goods (51.1%), raw materials (43.3%) and capital goods (38 ,nine%) .
Table 4 - Trade volume of Brazil with selected countries (in US dollars)
COUNTRY20052006200720082008 USA35.206.240.05139.182.228.2043.788.329.03753.051.010.64935.633.695.114 SPAIN3.509.956.6223.761.463.8365.319.771.6146.546.539.8334.619.138.373ROSSIYA145.386.485.035.63. 712.682.5671.897.597.4842.280.158.6212.528.999.9551.692.913.276 ANGOLA 521.447.1001.297.278.2682.164.567.8534.211.002.7041.470.768.714
Source: # "justify"> As for sales markets, Asia was the largest buyer of Brazilian goods (Brazilian exports to these countries increased by 31.3%), followed by Latin America and the Caribbean (Brazilian exports increased by 40 , 5%), followed by the European Union (an increase in exports by 22.7%). Here it should be borne in mind that the comparison is with the crisis year of 2009, and in relation to the level of 2007-2008, Brazilian exports and the overall volume of foreign trade are still showing a significant regression.
Table 5 - Brazilian Foreign Trade and Commercial Balance (US $ million)
201020092010/09, % EXPORT144.929111.79829.6 IMPORT132.15690.61845.8SALDO12.77321.180-39.7 FOREIGN TRADE 277.085202.41636.9
Source: # "justify"> Brazil remains one of the world's largest exporters of agricultural products, although exports of industrial goods have increased even more, and exports of aircraft, steel, electronics are almost equal to agricultural products.
In some industries, Brazilian importers and exporters are required to obtain certain permits, but most imports to Brazil are not subject to licensing, while exports are generally exempt from taxes. Brazilian foreign exchange regulations still play a significant role in the implementation of import-export transactions - currency is exchanged under special contracts related to imports, and exports are linked to federal taxes and the customs system. Fines may be imposed if the Brazilian importer or exporter fails to fulfill such contracts at the appointed time.
Trading companies in Brazil play a very important role in the import and export of goods as they have practical experience and knowledge in these areas. Trading companies can act as customs brokers, preparing import transactions, processing export and customs permits, and importing products on behalf of Brazilian companies.
2.2 Brazil's participation in the integration process
January 1995 Brazil was admitted to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Being a member of this organization allowed Brazil to significantly increase its foreign trade turnover in the second half of the 1990s. This especially applies to trade with countries located in the "Old World": the export of Brazilian agricultural and industrial goods to the countries of Europe and Asia was increased. It should be said that the republic's accession to the WTO also imposed obligations that Brazil had to fulfill, having carried out some transformations in the sphere of its foreign trade. The country's economy has become more open, - imports have increased, both in value terms and in physical volume. The country's government was forced to provide less financial support to the leading exporters, mainly in agriculture. These transformations coincided with a period of privatization of state-owned industrial enterprises and a sharp increase in the share of the private sector in the Brazilian economy. Since the 2000s. Brazil continued to liberalize foreign economic activity. However, the drafters of the WTO Brazilian Trade Policy Review 2004 indicate that tariff restrictions on imports of high-value-added goods and export subsidies for Brazilian high-tech industries continue to be heavily involved in the country's trade policy.
Indeed, Brazil is now adhering to a course aimed at further strengthening its position in Latin America and economic integration with the countries of this region. One of the vivid manifestations of this Brazilian policy is its role in the creation and participation in South American economic (and even today political) integration associations. The main ones are:
· South American Common Market (MERCOSUR).
Today, in addition to Brazil, this integration group includes Argentina, Venezuela, Paraguay and Uruguay. The first step towards the creation of the South American common market was the free trade agreement signed between Brazil and Argentina in 1986. In 1990, Paraguay and Uruguay joined this agreement. At this time, Mercosur was a free trade zone. On January 1, 1995, Mercosur moved to a higher integration level: from a free trade zone to a customs union. According to ECLAC, Brazil's trade with the Mercosur countries amounted to $ 13.95 billion in 2006, an increase of 20% over the previous year and 56.5% over 2004. At the same time, a large share of Brazil's trade within Mercosur falls on Argentina (80% -90%). Argentina is one of the main trade partners of Brazil not only in Latin America, but also in the world.
In 2006, Venezuela signed an agreement to join Mercosur. But the entry of Venezuela into Mercosur will occur when this agreement is signed by the parliaments of Brazil and Paraguay. The entry of Venezuela into Mercosur will give a new impetus to the process of economic, political and infrastructural integration, as well as eliminate the imbalance in decision-making on Mercosur in favor of Paraguay and Uruguay, which are seriously concerned about Brazil's "hegemony" in the region. Another of the conditions for Venezuela's entry into Mercosur is the adoption by Venezuela of the Common External Tariff, which is necessary to avoid double taxation in transit of goods within Mercosur. It was decided to open the Brazilian market for Venezuelan products within 2 years. Brazilian exporters will receive free admission to the Venezuelan market in 14 years for 63% of imported products.
· Latin American Integration Association (LAIA).
The Latin American Integration Association was founded in 1980 in Montevideo. The main goal of this association is to promote the development of a common economic space among all Latin American countries. The mechanisms for achieving this goal, approved by the LAI, are: a) the establishment of preferences in foreign trade between Latin American countries and a single tariff policy in relation to third countries; b) regional integration; c) the conclusion between the countries of the region of two - and multilateral treaties and agreements concerning foreign economic relations and do not violate the interests of those Latin American countries that do not take part in them. Today, the association includes most of the countries of Latin America, including: Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico and Cuba.
· Union of South American Nations (also known as the "Cusco Declaration").
The Union of South American Nations is a regional economic and political organization of the states of South America. The signing of the declaration on the creation of the new organization took place on December 9, 2004 at the summit of 12 states in the city of Cuzco (Peru). The union includes the countries of Mercosur (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay), the Community of the Andes (Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador), as well as Chile, Guyana and Suriname. The declaration states that it reflects the desire of the peoples of Latin America for integration, unity and building a common future. The main task of the organization within 15 years or more is to achieve the integration of economies and the creation of a free trade zone in South America. It is planned that the South American Union will develop through political coordination of the actions of the participating countries, and in the future, common South American institutions should be created - the Council of Ministers, the South American Parliament and the Court of Justice. But these activities are rather planned in the long term. The main task facing the Union of South American Nations is to unite Mercosur and the Andean Community into one integration grouping as the initial stage of a longer integration of the whole of South America. In general, the model for the planned development of this organization is similar to the formation of the EU. It is easy to assume that it is Brazil that will retain its leading position in the new union.
2.3 Brazil's place in international capital flows
An important role in the system of world economic relations in Brazil, like any country with significant prerequisites for economic development, is played by the inflow of foreign capital. Since the 1950s. Brazil pursued a favorable economic policy to attract investment from abroad, in particular, exempted from taxation the inflow of foreign capital into the country, as well as the transfer of dividends abroad. It has become one of the most attractive developing countries for foreign capital. And to date, according to the UNCTAD report, Brazil is ranked 5th in the ranking of countries with the most attractive investment climate.
The volume of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Brazilian economy in 2006 amounted to 18.78 billion dollars, which is 25% more than the volume of FDI in 2005 and is approximately equal to the level of 2004, but significantly less than this indicator in 1997- 2001 biennium Moreover, for the period 2000-2006. the average annual decline in FDI in the Brazilian economy was about 8%.
This is primarily due to the consequences of the economic crisis in South America, which undermined the confidence of foreign investors in countries in this region. Although FDI flows to Brazil declined from $ 22.46 billion in 2001 to $ 16.59 billion in 2002, the 26% decline for Brazil was more moderate than its neighbors. In Argentina the drop was 69%, in Chile 64%, and in Venezuela almost 60%. Since 2004, there has been a recovery in investment activity in Brazil.
Brazil, as an emerging economy, presents tremendous investment opportunities. FDI is the most optimal way to enter the Brazilian market, the volume of which in this Latin American country has reached 3% of global direct investment. In 2005, in Brazil, 50% of all international monetary transactions were associated with foreign direct investment. Also, the government does not stop its assistance in this matter. Thus, it exempted foreign investors from paying capital gains tax on federal bonds in order to increase the inflow of foreign capital and to be able to attract more funds for longer periods. By 2006, the Brazilian government had developed and launched the Government-Business Partnerships program. Within the framework of this program, it is planned to attract investments, both domestic and foreign, to invest in the country's infrastructure complex: electricity, auto and rail networks, port infrastructure, irrigation and urban development. The main mechanism supporting the operation of the program is a special federal insurance fund to protect investors participating in this program.
In 2005, the USA was the leader in terms of accumulated foreign direct investment in the Brazilian economy - $ 24.5 billion (24% of the total volume of accumulated investment). The growing interest of American companies in investing in Brazil is due to the enormous potential of the Brazilian market in the context of economic and social stability. It is predicted that the volume of investments from the United States will continue to grow precisely due to capital investments from the transnational corporations (TNCs) of this country. But despite the fact that American investment capital is widely represented in the Brazilian market, only 2 companies from the United States are included in the list of 30 largest Brazilian firms - Cargill and AES. Of the 10 largest importers in Brazil, 4 represent foreign capital - Nokia, Motorola, Bunge and Ford Motors, and exporters include Bimge, Volkswagen, Cargill, General Motors, Ford Motors and Halliburton.
The United States is followed by the Netherlands with $ 10.7 billion (11%), Spain with $ 12.2 billion (11.9%), as well as France, Portugal and Germany. Investment from the Cayman Islands began to grow in the country since 1995 and generally represent the repatriation of national capital. The participation of Portugal and Spain is largely limited to the telecommunications and banking sector. The total volume of direct investments, excluding capital repatriation, from 2000 to the end of 2005 reached $ 87 billion (up to 2000, the total volume was $ 103 billion).
Most of the investments in the Brazilian economy are in the following sectors: agriculture and food processing, communications and transport, fuel and energy complex and mechanical engineering.
2006 saw a surge in direct investment by Brazilian companies abroad. In that year, Brazil's FDI inflow to foreign countries was $ 28.2 billion, and this despite the fact that Brazilian capital stock (in the form of FDI) abroad totals just over $ 87 billion. This astronomical increase in Brazil's FDI abroad is to increase income from foreign trade. In 2006, the trade surplus amounted to $ 46.1 billion, and the export earnings of Brazilian companies also increased. Brazil's foreign trade structure is oligopoly, that is, less than a hundred of the largest companies receive most of the export revenues. The increased currency exchange rate and the desire of Brazilian companies to invest their surplus funds in investment projects abroad led to the fact that the remittances of profits and dividends of Brazilian oligopolist companies abroad reached $ 16.4 billion. Thus, in 2006, Brazil was observed a net outflow of direct investment of $ 9.42 billion, which, in turn, made it possible to maintain an equilibrium of the country's balance of payments in the face of a surplus on the current account and thereby maintain a relatively stable real exchange rate.
Conducted since the mid-90s. banking policy (only 10 largest banks in the country control 65% of the financial market) and regulation of stock markets (many small stock exchanges were liquidated or merged) made it possible to create conditions for attracting portfolio investments. Brazilian stock exchanges continue to be used primarily by national companies only, including the São Paulo Stock Exchange ("Bovespa"), which claims regional importance. The number of companies listed on the São Paulo Stock Exchange rose to 382 at the end of 2005, up from 361 in 2004 (399 in 2002 and 428 in 2001). The total turnover of securities trading reached $ 430 billion, while the market capitalization amounted to $ 482 million. 50% of the turnover of the entire stock market was concentrated on 10 exchanges. The world's 71 largest Brazilian companies, including Petrobras, Embraer, Banco Itau, Cvrd, Brasil Telecom and Ambev, are traded on the NYSE. Trade in government securities is mainly concentrated in Rio de Janeiro.
The total amount of reserves of the foreign portfolio investment fund in Brazil by the end of 2006 amounted to $ 100 billion, or 12% of the country's GDP. Accelerated in 2005-2007. the movement of portfolio investments in Brazil made it possible for the government of the republic to reduce its external debt and in 2006 to pay off all obligations to the IMF. Most importantly, the ratio of Brazil's foreign exchange reserve to foreign portfolio investment has changed significantly. In 2004, Brazil's foreign exchange reserves were $ 52 billion, while foreign portfolio investment stocks were $ 35 billion. At the end of 2005, investment reserves rose to $ 54 billion, and accumulated portfolio investments to $ 65 billion. By the end of 2006 - at the beginning of 2007, foreign exchange reserves were estimated at $ 57 billion, and the stocks of foreign portfolio investments increased to $ 100 billion.
2.4 Brazil's relations with the Russian Federation
Russian-Brazilian relations are traditionally close, characterized by important cooperation in trade, military and technological sectors. Nowadays, Brazil is an important partner of the Russian Federation with common interests in space technology, military technology, communications technology and other segments.
Brazil was the first state in Latin America with which Russia established diplomatic relations, due to the fact that Brazil was then a monarchy.
Diplomatic relations between Russia and Brazil were established on October 3, 1828.The Brazilians were among the first to recognize the Russian Federation as the successor state of the USSR (December 26, 1991). Since 1994, Russian-Brazilian relations are characterized by positive dynamics of political contacts at the highest and highest levels. A High-Level Commission for Cooperation (HLC) has been created and is working on a regular basis, headed by the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation and the Vice-President of Brazil.
In November 2004, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin paid a visit to Brazil - the first visit of a Russian head of state to this country in the history of bilateral relations. During negotiations with the Brazilian leadership, specific tasks were identified to further expand the potential for cooperation, joint implementation of long-term projects in high-tech areas, such as space exploration, aircraft construction, energy, military-technical cooperation, confirmed the political will to form a "technological alliance" between Russia and Brazil, signed a number of bilateral documents and commercial agreements.
The official visit of Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva to Russia on October 18, 2005 made a significant contribution to the further strengthening of political and economic partnership, multifaceted and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries in trade, economic, investment, scientific, technical, cultural and humanitarian spheres.
At the invitation of Vladimir Putin, Brazilian President Luis Lula da Silva took part in the work "on the sidelines" of the G8 summit in St. Petersburg on July 16-17, 2006. use of outer space for peaceful purposes.
In November 2008, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev paid an official visit to Brazil. Medvedev's visit coincided with the celebration of the 180th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Following the meeting, the leaders of the two countries signed a number of bilateral relations, including on the abolition of the visa regime for short-term trips.
Contacts at the level of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs have been active and rich in recent years. Meetings are held on a regular basis at sessions of the UN General Assembly and on the sidelines of the BRICS summit. One of the last meetings of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Brazil Celso Amorim took place on April 25, 2010 in Moscow.
The practice of inter-ministerial consultations continues at the level of deputy ministers and department directors. Within the framework of the Political Commission, which is an integral part of the HLC, consultations on security and strategic stability at the level of deputy ministers are held on a regular basis, as well as inter-ministerial consultations on UN problems, consular and other issues.
On May 2009, in Moscow, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergei Ryabkov and Deputy Foreign Minister of the Federative Republic of Brazil Mashado held a meeting of the bilateral Commission on Political Issues, within the framework of which the next round of Russian-Brazilian consultations on strategic stability and security took place.
In recent years, Brazil has firmly ranked first in Russia's trade with Latin American countries, and is also one of Russia's important partners in the world. The share of Brazil in Russia's foreign trade in 2008 was: in terms of trade turnover - 0.9% (25th place in the turnover of Russia), in terms of exports - 0.4% (32nd place), in respect of imports - 1.7% (16th place. ).
At the end of 2009, amid the financial and economic crisis, there was a sharp drop in bilateral trade to $ 4.6 billion (from $ 6.7 billion in 2008), including Russian exports - $ 1.08 billion $ 3.5 billion ...
In the structure of Russian exports in the specified period, supplies of chemical products (including fertilizers) continued to dominate, the share of which amounted to 85%. The share of mineral products decreased - 3.5%, the share of metals and metal products increased - 7.2%, and the share of machinery and equipment increased - 2.7%.
In 2009, there was a decrease in Russian supplies to Brazil for almost all commodity items. The only exceptions were some types of chemical products (oxometallic salts, amino compounds, lye, vinyl chloride polymers), hot-rolled products, bearings, power equipment for power facilities under construction in Brazil with Russian participation, instruments and tools.
In the structure of Russian imports from Brazil in 2009, an increase in the share of food products and agricultural raw materials was noted - 94.4%.
Strengthening the traditions of cultural cooperation is facilitated by the holding of festivals of Ibero-American culture in Russia, the growing number of art groups going on tour to Latin America, the organization of art exhibitions, weeks of Russian cinema, and days of Russian culture there.
Major projects of cultural cooperation were the opening in Brazil of the first and only foreign school of the State Academic Bolshoi Theater (city of Joenville) and the P.I. Tchaikovsky (Fortaleza city) with the assistance of the Moscow Conservatory.
Russia and Brazil will cancel visas from June 7, 2010. The talks between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva were held on Friday, May 14, in the Kremlin. The meeting began with a conversation in a restricted format, then continued with the participation of delegations of the two countries. The presidents of Russia and Brazil, greeting each other, shook hands and hugged each other tightly.
This is the second meeting of the presidents of Russia and Brazil in less than a month. Medvedev in mid-April participated in the summit of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), which was held in Brasilia.
Among the central topics of the talks between the leaders of Russia and Brazil in Moscow were the prospects for cooperation in the economic sphere, in particular, in the field of high technologies, energy and aircraft construction. It is planned that following the talks between the presidents, a package of bilateral documents will be signed, including the Plan for the implementation of the strategic partnership between Russia and Brazil.
A visa-free regime between Russia and Brazil will work on June 7, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said at a press conference following talks with his Brazilian counterpart. "On June 7 we will open a visa-free regime," he said. At the same time, the Russian leader clarified that agreements on this were reached a year and a half ago. "Now this agreement is coming into effect. This will expand the opportunities for our cooperation," Medvedev noted (see Appendix A).
Thus, Brazil is the largest participant in world trade among the countries of South America. One of the most important elements of Brazil's policy aimed at expanding foreign economic relations is its participation in international and regional integration associations. And today the country takes part in more than 60 international political and economic organizations. It has become one of the most attractive developing countries for foreign capital. Nowadays, Brazil is an important partner of the Russian Federation with common interests in space technology, military technology, communications technology and other segments.
3. Modern trends in the development of the Brazilian economy
3.1 Features of the development of the Brazilian economy at the present stage
Thanks to a high level of development of agriculture, mining and manufacturing industries and the service sector, as well as a large number of working-age population, in terms of GDP, Brazil significantly exceeds any other country in Latin America, being the main economy in Mercosur. The country is now expanding its presence in world markets. Major export items include aircraft, coffee, vehicles, soybeans, iron ore, orange juice, steel, textiles, footwear, electrical equipment, and sugar.
Brazil's economy grew 0.7 percent in the last quarter of 2010 compared to the previous quarter, summing up the rapid growth of the largest economy in Latin America, which was 7.5 percent last year. In 2010, the Brazilian economy showed the fastest growth since 1986. On an annualized basis, Brazil's GDP grew 5.0 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) reported.
In mid-April, the third BRICS summit took place in the Chinese city of Sanya. Admittedly, the BRICS countries / Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa / are the engine of global economic growth. Ahead of the meeting, Tatiana Rosito, Counselor at the Brazilian Embassy in China, said that in 2010, China's investment in Brazil increased to nearly US $ 300 million. At the same time, since 2010, China has become the largest investor in Brazil, more than 15 billion US dollars have been invested in the economy of this country, which significantly strengthened bilateral relations between China and Brazil. Thus, the new Brazilian government expects to expand the scope of cooperation with China through the summit. Brazilian experts note that in this context, the Brazilian government hopes that the BRICS countries have come to a consensus on strengthening, cooperation in order to further expand and deepen, in order to fully reveal the meaning of the alliance of these countries.
In Brazil, it is believed that along with South Africa, new members from developing countries will join the BRICS alliance, and this will be a general trend in the development of the organization. Severino Cabral, director of the Brazilian research institute for the study of China and the Asia-Pacific region, said that the rise of emerging market countries, which are represented by the BRICS members, will benefit from achieving a balance in the development of the world economy and a rational world economic order, which will also significantly reduce the dependence of the world economy on the economic developed countries. The BRICS has already moved from a mechanism of anti-crisis cooperation to a mechanism to stimulate economic development in the post-crisis period, but the consequences of the crisis are still being felt, so the international community should continue joint efforts to restore the world economy. Brazil hopes that by participating in the summit, the BRICS countries will increase their influence in the region and in the world.
In addition, in the context of general inflation, the reform of the monetary system will be the focus of attention at the BRICS summit. Brazilian media have consistently reported this year that due to rising commodity prices and large capital inflows to Brazil, the country is currently facing so-called "imported inflation". The Brazilian real has risen 37% against the dollar since 2009. China also faces similar challenges. Thus, promoting the reform of the monetary system in the area of expanding voting quotas in the International Monetary Fund, granting special credit rights and rights to participate in the reform of the World Bank system to countries with emerging markets - this is the appeal of the BRICS countries at the summit.
Each of the BRICS countries has a number of distinctive characteristics among states with a dynamically growing economy. Brazil is the largest exporter of energy resources.
Currently, settlement in bilateral trade between China and Russia, China and India is carried out in the national currency, but there are many disagreements between China and Brazil on this matter, Brazilian economists believe that the visit to China of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and this summit will help solve this question.
Earlier this month, the Brazilian government also announced that Brazil's GDP reached 7.5% in 2010, based on stable and effective economic policies and the development of its social security system, the highest in 24 years. Brazil has become the seventh fastest growing economy in the world. Some experts noted that along with stable economic development, Brazil has its own advantages in the development of clean energy, agriculture, therefore, at the current summit in Sanya, the Brazilian government expects to find new opportunities for cooperation, including attracting investments, infrastructure development in Brazil and to consider new cooperation projects in the context of preparations for the upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games.
Recall that at the invitation of Chinese President Hu Jintao, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and South African President Jacob Zuma will take part in the BRICS summit in Sanya. They will conduct an in-depth exchange of views on the international situation and issues related to the economy, finance, development and cooperation between the BRICS countries in the future.
In December 2010, China, which was chairing the BRIC at that time, and its other participants, jointly approved the official membership of South Africa in this organization.
.2 Problems and Prospects for the Development of the Brazilian Economy
The Brazilian economy, with a highly developed agriculture, mining industry (it ranks first in the world for the extraction of iron ore, apatite, the second for the extraction of beryllium, the third for the extraction of bauxite, the fourth for the extraction of gold, asbestos, tin) and the service sector, is the most powerful in the region and has a significant impact on world markets. Brazil is the world's largest producer of coffee and sugar cane.
Two thirds of the country is forested - Brazil has one seventh of the world's forest resources. Most of the forests are concentrated in the Amazon and the Atlantic coastal zone. The development of the timber industry is still hampered by a poorly developed transport infrastructure.
Brazil has a huge fishing potential, but its development is proceeding at a slow pace and therefore a significant part of fish raw materials is exported from neighboring Argentina.
Tourism is also developing in Brazil - a relatively young branch of the national economy.
The government is investing a lot of money in the development of tourism, so it should be expected that in the near future tourism will become a developed and profitable economic sector of the country.
Brazil's real role lies in the fact that it has not quite consciously assumed and will take the blows of the global financial crisis, absorbing the endless dollar interventions that the United States is making to save its economy. To what extent, what hardships await Brazil? It is very difficult to judge this now. The crisis has not yet passed, and "bad" debts are growing. The next year and a half will clarify the situation and the magnitude of the losses. This is probably the price Brazil will pay for the external security and territorial integrity that the United States guarantees.
After all, we managed to do some useful things. For example, the development of an industry for the production of fuel ethanol from sugar cane. So, perhaps, today sugar is the asset of the Brazilian economy that will be in demand on the world market, and this asset is not small.
But here, too, there are problems, and also with international monopolies. For example, the Guarani sugar processing group is owned by the French. It may be that in other enterprises not everything is so transparent. In any case, the new Brazilian president and government has a colossal amount of work to do, and not for the sake of election slogans, but in order to soften the blows of the crisis that has not spared Brazil - it has not really reached it yet. And there are already plenty of symptoms of the upcoming major economic troubles. There are strikes all over the country. Everyone is demanding either an increase in wages, or payment of some lost money, or something else. For example, in early October there was a multi-day strike of bank employees. The banking system in Brazil is built on the North American model and, despite the pathological reluctance to work for many employees, works well. But on November 8, there was a scandal with a large bank Panamericano. He deliberately increased his capitalization by double counting assets.
And not only in this bank there are problems with the size of capitalization. In Brazil, gambling is prohibited, and in this case, it is very correct, but in Brazil consumer credit is very affordable. It is very easy to get small sums for purchases of various equipment at very high interest rates (at least 100% per year). Given the mentality of the majority of Brazilians, the essence of which is to strive for constantly positive emotions, or, in other words, to be happy all the time, they, without thinking about repaying the debt, easily take out a loan. According to some reports, about 80% of Brazilian families are in debt to banks. And banks, in turn, write them down as their asset. But how many of these 80% will pay off debts? The strikes continue. Even civil servants, who, due to the specifics of their work, should not take part in strikes during working hours, also go on strike. All these strikes were organized by employees of institutions who, in terms of their social status, belong more to the middle class. But the Indians in the state of Maranhao simply blocked the federal road and guarded the barricade with weapons. They demanded to give 3 million reais already allocated by the government for schools in Indian villages.
There are a lot of problems and not everything, of course, is written in the media. The Brazilians themselves, for the most part, also do not want to darken their lives with negative economic information. But the government of President Lula has made another populist move, which certainly won the approval of the majority of the country's population. Currently, the minimum wage in Brazil is R $ 510 per month. It is proposed to increase it to 560 reais in 2011, already under the new government of Dilma. So far, at government debates at various levels, an increase to 540 reais was preliminarily approved. In principle, the new government immediately makes a broad gesture for the poorest sections of society. Maybe other good gestures will follow.
Brazil will become the world's fifth largest economic power by 2013, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of the world's leading multinational investment companies. Economic forecasts also suggest that by 2020 the GDP of the seven largest developing countries in the world (the so-called E-7 - China, India, Brazil, Russia, Mexico, Indonesia and Turkey) will exceed the GDP of the G7. Of the 10 estimated economic leaders in 2030, five are countries that are now considered developing countries.
Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega said that his country came in fifth in the world in terms of GDP, calculated in purchasing power parity (seventh place excluding PPP). Brazil's economy outperformed those of France and Great Britain and will continue to grow in the future.
Mantega also stressed that Brazil recorded the fifth largest economic growth among the G20 members at the end of last year. Only China, India, Argentina and Turkey were ahead of it in this indicator. The head of the Brazilian Ministry of Finance highlighted the role of his country in the world economy. "As Brazil's economy expanded faster than the world average, we imported more goods, thus helping other countries to cope with the crisis," said Guido Mantega.
According to the Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) at the end of 2010, Brazil's GDP grew by 7.5% compared to the same period last year and amounted to 3.675 trillion. reais (approximately $ 2.217 trillion). This figure has become a record over the past 25 years. In the IV quarter of 2010, the country's GDP growth amounted to 0.7% in relation to the III quarter. On an annualized basis, quarterly GDP grew by 5%. Industrial production in the country at the end of last year increased by 10.1%, and agriculture - by 6.5%. These numbers were shown after a slight recession in 2009, when GDP fell 0.3%.
Mantega also said that the current slowdown in the Brazilian economy will benefit her, as it reduces the risk of inflation. It should be noted that to combat the overheating of the economy, the Central Bank of Brazil this week raised the refinancing rate to 11.75%. In addition, the government decided to cut state budget spending by $ 30 billion.
According to Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, the country's economy in 2011 will grow by 4.5-5%. Moreover, these figures will be achieved without much difficulty.
Thus, due to the high level of development of agriculture, mining and manufacturing industries and the service sector, as well as a large number of working-age population, Brazil significantly exceeds any other country in Latin America in terms of GDP. Brazil has become the seventh fastest growing economy in the world.
Conclusion
In this work, in accordance with its goals and objectives, the following were considered:
· the Brazilian economy at the present stage;
· Brazil's place in the world economy;
· problems and prospects for the development of the Brazilian economy.
The economy of modern Brazil is characterized by a well-developed agricultural, industrial production and a rapidly developing service sector. The Republic of Brazil is one of the most promising developing countries in terms of economic potential.
Brazil is the largest South American country in world trade. This state is traditionally one of the leading suppliers of a number of agricultural products to the world market.
One of the most important elements of Brazil's policy aimed at expanding foreign economic relations is its participation in international and regional integration associations. And today the country takes part in more than 60 international political and economic organizations.
An important role in the system of world economic relations in Brazil is played by the inflow of foreign capital. It has become one of the most attractive developing countries for foreign capital.
Nowadays, Brazil is an important partner of the Russian Federation with common interests in space technology, military technology, communications technology and other segments. In recent years, Brazil has firmly ranked first in Russia's trade with Latin American countries, and is also one of Russia's important partners in the world.
In terms of GDP, Brazil significantly exceeds any other country in Latin America, being the main economy in Mercosur. The country is now expanding its presence in world markets. Brazil is the seventh fastest growing economy in the world.
List of used literature
1.Banco Central do Brasil. RelatorioAnual, 2009. Volume 44, p.29.
2.CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY. Economy Brazil, 2011. URL: https: // www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/br.html
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY. People Economy, 2011. URL:
4.https: // www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/br.html
5.Brazil, 2000-2011. URL: # "center"> Applications
Appendix A
Russia-Brazil. General agreements:
Trade and Payments Agreement between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of Brazil (Rio de Janeiro, April 20, 1963)
Order of the President of the Russian Federation of September 24, 1993 N 656-rp "On the signing of the Treaty on the fundamentals of relations between the Russian Federation and the Federative Republic of Brazil."
Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of September 26, 1997 N 1232 "On the signing of a Joint Statement on the establishment of a Russian-Brazilian high-level commission on cooperation under the leadership of the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation and the Vice-President of the Federative Republic of Brazil."
Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of January 9, 1994 N8 "On the approval of the Protocol of Intent on trade and economic cooperation between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil."
Russian-Brazilian Political Commission.
Agreement on partnership relations between the Russian Federation and the Federative Republic of Brazil (Moscow, June 22, 2000).
Memorandum of Understanding on the Creation of a Mechanism for Political Dialogue and Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Participating States and Associated Members of the South American Common Market (MERCOSUR) (Brasilia, December 15, 2006)
Order of the Government of the Russian Federation of January 20, 2004 N 75-r On negotiations on the signing of a Protocol on Cooperation between the Ministry of Aviation Industry of the Russian Federation and the Brazilian Small Business Support Service.
Order of the Government of the Russian Federation of January 4, 2000 N 5-r On negotiating the signing of a Memorandum between the EEC of the Russian Federation and the Brazilian National Council for the Control of Financial Transactions on mutual understanding and cooperation in the exchange of confidential financial information on the "laundering" of proceeds from illegal means ...
Treaty between the Russian Federation and the Federative Republic of Brazil on extradition, signed in Moscow on January 14, 2002.
Declaration of the Russian Federation and the Federative Republic of Brazil on International Terrorism of December 13, 2001 No.
Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Federal Republic of Brazil on cooperation in the field of competition policy (Brasilia, December 12, 2001)
Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Federal Republic of Brazil on cooperation in the field of plant quarantine (Moscow, June 22, 2000)
Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Federal Republic of Brazil on scientific and technical cooperation (Brasilia, November 21, 1997).
Program of Scientific and Technical Cooperation between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Federal Republic of Brazil for 2004-2006 (Brasilia, November 22, 2004)
Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of August 25, 1999 N 947 "On the signing of the Russia-Brazil Joint Action Plan of the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil"
Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of April 7, 1998 N 386 "On the conclusion of an Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Federal Republic of Brazil on cooperation in the field of animal health."
Russia-Brazil. Space:
Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Federal Republic of Brazil on cooperation in the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes of November 21, 1997 No.
Order of the Government of the Russian Federation of November 17, 2004 N 1471-r On negotiations on the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Federal Space Agency and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Federal Republic of Brazil on a program of cooperation in the implementation of space activities.
Memorandum of Understanding between the Federal Space Agency and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Federal Republic.
Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil on the mutual protection of technologies in connection with cooperation in the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes (Brasilia, December 14, 2006)
Russia-Brazil. Military-technical cooperation:
Memorandum between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Federal Republic of Brazil on cooperation in the field of military technology of mutual interest (Moscow, April 9, 2002)
Military-Technical Cooperation Agreement with the Federative Republic of Brazil (April 9, 2002)
Russia-Brazil. Atomic Energy:
Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Federal Republic of Brazil on Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy (Brasilia, September 15, 1994); Bulletin of international treaties. Publishing house "Legal Literature", January 01, 1999, N 1, p. 8-11
Russia-Brazil. Customs
Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Federative Republic of Brazil on mutual assistance in the prevention, investigation and suppression of customs. Violations (Brasilia, 12 December 2001)
Russia-Brazil. Trade:
Intergovernmental Russian-Brazilian Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation.
Joint Statement of the Fourth Meeting of the Russian-Brazilian High-Level Commission on Cooperation (Brasilia, April 4, 2006)
Russia-Brazil. Connection:
Order of the Government of the Russian Federation of November 19, 2004 N 1497-r On negotiations on the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of telecommunications between the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications of the Russian Federation and the National Telecommunications Agency of the Federal Republic of Brazil.
Russia-Brazil. Culture, sports, tourism:
Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Federal Republic of Brazil on cooperation in the field of culture and education (Brasilia, November 21, 1997)
Exchange program between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Federal Republic of Brazil in the field of culture, education and sports for 2005-2007 (Brasilia, November 22, 2004)
Order of the Government of the Russian Federation of November 17, 2004 N 1473-r On negotiations on the conclusion of an Agreement between the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Sports of the Federal Republic of Brazil on cooperation in the field of physical culture and sports.
Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 6, 2001 N 85! "On the signing of an Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Federal Republic of Brazil on cooperation in the field of tourism."
Agreement between the Federal Agency for Physical Culture and Sports and the Ministry of Sports of the Federal Republic of Brazil on cooperation in the field of physical culture and sports (Brasilia, November 22, 2004)
Russia-Brazil. Ecology:
Memorandum of Intent on the development of cooperation in the field of environmental protection between the Russian Federation and the Federative Republic of Brazil dated November 14, 1994.
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Topic: The current state of the Brazilian economy and its world economic ties
Type: Abstract | Size: 62.35K | Downloaded: 34 | Added 09/13/15 at 17:20 | Rating: 0 | More Abstracts
University: National Research University
Year and city: Smolensk 2013
Introduction 3
1 History of Brazilian Economic Development 4
2 The country's economy at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries 9
3 International economic relations of Brazil 14
Conclusion 20
List of sources used 21
INTRODUCTION
Brazil is the largest state in South America and is located in its central and eastern parts. Brazil's economy is by far the most powerful on the mainland. She has a great influence on the world market. Industry and agriculture occupy the leading places in the economy. Brazil is able to independently provide itself with food. It is a leading exporter of tropical crops. Brazil is famous for its coffee, which makes up the bulk of the country's exports. For its production, this country holds the first place in the world. The main "coffee" states are Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Espirito Santo and Parana. Soy is also an important part of exports.
Do not forget that historically, the Brazilian economy has not gone smoothly. But, despite all the historical difficulties, Brazil was able to cope with difficulties and stabilize the economy, as well as establish foreign economic relations with other countries for the growth and prosperity of the economy. All this determined the choice of the topic of the essay. The purpose of the essay is to review the current economic state of Brazil. The problem discussed in this essay concerns the excess of the share of imports over exports.
When writing the abstract, the following tasks were set:
Explore the history of Brazilian economic development.
Consider the current state of the country's economy.
Analyze the international economic relations of Brazil.
In our opinion, this issue may be of scientific interest, as well as a basis for reflection, since trade, economic, scientific and technical ties between Brazil and Russia are developing at a fairly good pace.
When writing the abstract, textbooks on economics, articles from economic journals and other economic literature were used.
1 HISTORY OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF BRAZIL
The history of Brazil has been rich in many historical facts. Many historical processes taking place in this country, one way or another, influenced the country's economy. In order to understand how the history of Brazil influenced the economic sphere, one should go back to the moment when the Europeans discovered South America. It was from then that the stormy and sometimes difficult history of the country began.
When the Europeans first reached Brazil, French researchers claim that the ship of the Frenchman Jean Cousin was carried off the coast of this country during a storm in 1488. Some Brazilian historians insist that Portuguese seafarers secretly visited Brazil earlier in 1494. Historical records show that two Spanish expeditions sailed to the shores of modern Brazil. Not long after that, Pedro Alvaris Cabral saw an unknown land on April 22, 1500. The Portuguese navigator named it Terra da Vera Cruz. Coming to its shore, he surveyed some part of the coast for 10 days. Later, at the place where the ship docked, Pedro Cabral erected a large wooden cross.
The Brazilian economy was colonial and based on sugar production, mining, cattle breeding. At that time, the labor of slaves was used. A little later, small cattle-breeding plantations and ranches were created. They cultivated cotton and rice.
However, for the royal administration during the colonial period, the most profitable crop was sugarcane. Its collection peaked in the 17th century. At that time, Brazil earned much more from sugar exports , than the export of gold and diamonds. Until the end of the 16th century, the demand for sugar in Europe increased, and at the beginning of the 17th century. Portugal has become the largest supplier of this product to the world market. There were about 60 sugar plantations in 1570 in Brazil. in 1710 - over 500. And in subsequent years their number increased at an incredible rate. In the interior regions of the country, hacienda prevailed. Mostly Indians worked there. African slaves began to be attracted to work on hacienda only in the middle of the 17th century. At the beginning of the 18th century. political changes took place that had a direct impact on the country's economy.
At a time when power in Portugal actually fell into the hands of the Marquis de Pombal, as a result of which this country finally acquired a stronger and more centralized rule. In 1759, Pombal expelled the Jesuits from Portugal and all of its possessions. This was followed by the confiscation of the rich property of this order. The church came to be controlled by the state. However, the Marquis de Pombal encouraged the development of agriculture and industry.
One of the advantages in his policy is that he banned the use of slave labor by the Indians. But the reforms initiated by Pombal met with resistance. During his reign, smuggling flourished, corruption hit the government . As a result, the dissatisfaction spread to wide sections of the Brazilian society. It should be borne in mind that events in Europe stimulated Brazil's struggle for independence. The invasion of Portugal by Napoleon's troops in 1807 forced members of the Bragança royal dynasty and its 15,000 adherents to flee to Brazil. There, on behalf of the king, a law was immediately issued on the opening of Brazilian ports, which meant granting Brazil economic independence.
In the middle of the 19th century. Brazil's economy was booming. The culture of coffee, which began to be grown in the middle of the 18th century. in the Rio de Janeiro region, quickly spread along the Paraiba valley from Rio de Janeiro to São Paulo.
The economies of the states of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo specialized in the cultivation of coffee. Sugarcane continued to be grown in the Northeast. While in the far south and far west, cattle were raised. In the north, the main crops were cotton. , indigofer and rice. Mining has not been abandoned. The region of the Paraiba River Valley stood out sharply in terms of the volume of export products.
After 1830 coffee became Brazil's most valuable export . Unfortunately slavery , as the only relic of the colonial past , remained in a slightly modified form until 1888. Back in the 1820s, some Brazilians insisted that the slave trade and slavery be ended, as they feared that a huge influx of slaves would eventually lead to the "Africanization" of the country. But the Brazilian economy could not immediately abandon the labor of slaves. Therefore, she continued to rely on slave labor. It was widely used in sugar and coffee plantations.
The government was delaying the resolution of the issue of freeing slaves, since the continued expansion of the "coffee economy" needed a guaranteed source of labor. Without a labor force, Brazil would not be able to produce coffee and supply it to the world market. The domestic and international movements to abolish the slave trade finally bore fruit, and in 1850 Eusebiu de Queiros passed a law to abolish the slave trade. In fact, the slave trade did not stop until 1880.
Decisive economic ones took place in the decade after the First World War. In the first two decades of the 20th century. a flood of immigrants poured into Brazil, including Japanese, who settled in small communities.
New towns, family farms and railways were built in the border areas in the north and west of São Paulo state. The development of the rural economy was accompanied by the growth of industry in the cities.
The post-war period was marked by the increasing role of trade . But this turned into economic difficulties in industry and affected the employment of workers. As a result, there was a growth of social and political protest movements. While Brazilian goods - coffee, sugar, cocoa and meat - were again exported in large quantities, the federal government showed little desire to protect new industries from cheap imports that flooded the Brazilian market and undermined the position of domestic producers. Urban workers were mostly immigrant and middle class . They poured into the ranks of the unemployed and were outraged by the government's policies. At that time, the global economic crisis was raging, which required the federal government to take urgent measures to save the "coffee economy", and partly because of the president gave preference to the governor of São Paulo. The subsequent elections split the country.
The opposition candidate was Jitulio Vargas. When Jitulio was elected president, he took up social and economic reforms: he pursued an active policy in which the state established and influenced trade unions, carried out centralized economic planning and created state agencies for the management of natural resources and heavy industry. Brazil was one of the first in the world to experience the impact of the 1929 crisis. By burning the surplus coffee production, the country pursued a policy of industrial development. After the abolition of the dictatorship of Vargas, General Euriku Gaspar Dutra was elected president. He restored the constitutional regime and embarked on a course towards a return to a liberal market economy. Brazil's economy grew by 10% a year between 1964-1974. The country's economy at that time was built on a combination of internal repression, political stability, low wages, massive foreign investment, foreign loans and an unprecedented focus on the export of finished goods.
In 1973-1974 Brazil experienced a deep shock when world oil prices quadrupled. This was due to the fact that the country was highly dependent on oil imports. However, the regime resolutely continued its policy. To finance development projects, the government pushed for huge foreign loans.
In the early 1970s, all social and political activities were banned. In the presidential elections in November 1989, the main candidate stood out: Fernando Collor de Mello - he was supported by the majority of left-wing parties. In the final round of elections in December, Collor won by a narrow margin. Perhaps his victory was due to the fact that he promised to sharply reduce the number of employees in the public sector of the economy and privatize most of the economy.
After his inauguration in March 1990, Collor put forward a reform agenda. His top priorities included containing hyperinflation by freezing 70% of bank accounts and all prices and reducing the budget deficit, which in 1989 stood at 8% of GDP.
In 1992, the economy continued to decline sharply. Advocating for restricting consumption, the Collora government introduced new taxes and levies to pay off debts, which caused a sharp exacerbation of social tensions.
In the early 1990s, inflation continued to grow and in August 1991 reached 22% per month, while unemployment in some regions exceeded 15%. In December 1993, Minister of Finance Fernando Henrique Cardoso, a former senator, proposed an ambitious plan to stabilize the economy. Cardoso tried to stem inflation by cutting the federal budget deficit. For this, it was recommended to increase the income tax, reduce employment in the public sector. This plan was supported by many entrepreneurs, but it met with opposition from trade unions. In July, a new monetary unit was introduced - the real, the value of which was equal to the US dollar. Inflation rates, which exceeded 50% in June, dropped to 10% in July and remained at the level of several percent until the beginning of October. Thousands of state-owned enterprises were put up for sale. Thus, Cardoso managed to contain the devaluation of the real and thereby save the country from hyperinflation.
The success of the fight against inflation brought Fernando Cardoso unprecedented popularity and love of the people. Since 2003, Brazil has steadily improved its macroeconomic stability as it built up foreign exchange reserves and reduced debt. Thanks to this, Brazil is now a stronger country compared to its state at the beginning of the 20th century. The current state of the country will be discussed in the next chapter.
2 THE ECONOMY OF THE COUNTRY AT THE BORDER OF THE XX-XXI CENTURIES
According to the results of the first five-year plan of the XXI century. Brazil's economy is in 10th place in the world, as economic activity is higher than in other developing countries.
Brazil's industry accounts for 30% of its gross domestic product, exports about 10%. The country has four key sectors - automobiles, steelmaking, petrochemicals and services. These areas have played a decisive role in the development of not only industry, but also the economy as a whole.
At the end of the 90s and the beginning of the new century, Brazil made strides in the production of a variety of finished products. This category includes machinery and equipment for processing. Production of aviation equipment, electrical and electronic equipment, production of textile products: clothing, footwear.
It should be noted that the major trading partners of Brazil at the moment are countries such as Argentina, USA, Switzerland, Germany, Great Britain, France, Mexico and Canada.
As for oil, until 1953 its production in Brazil was about 2 thousand barrels per day, but the internal capacity was twice as large. In 1953, Congress passed a resolution to establish the state oil company, Petrobras. Private enterprises were allowed to participate in production, but only at the stage of purification and distribution of the finished product. Thanks to Petrobras, Brazil tripled its oil production in the early 90s, and in July 1994 a production record was reached: about 740 thousand barrels per day.
Currently, the country has three petrochemical complexes located in the states of Bahia, Rio Grande Sul and São Paulo, with a total capacity of 1.5 million tons per year.
In order for oil to be balanced with the production of crude oil, research work was carried out in the late 60s and early 70s to find another fuel source other than oil.
An alternative solution was found in the manufacture of a monohydric alcohol: ethanol, which they began to extract from sugar cane. In 1975, the National Alcohol Production Program was adopted with the aim of using ethanol as a fuel and energy substitute for gasoline and increasing its production for industrial use.
By 1985, during the implementation of the developed program for 10 years, 6.5 billion dollars were invested in the production of 50 billion liters of the standard. 500 thousand jobs were created. It should be noted that 2.5 million vehicles run on clean fuel and all gasoline in Brazilian filling stations contains 20% of the standard blend.
By 2005, Brazil has purchased special technology and equipment that is capable of supporting the annual production of the standard at the level of 20 billion liters, and also exports technology, equipment and services.
It is known that Brazil has the richest, although not yet fully explored, mineral deposits.
Iron ore reserves have been calculated and estimated at 50 billion tons. Of these, 20 billion are found in the Karazhas mountain range, in the east of the Amazonian lowland.
The amount of iron ore that Brazil currently possesses will be enough to satisfy the demands of the entire world community for this type of natural resources in the next 100 years. This forecast is made taking into account the current growth rate and production level.
In addition to iron ore, Brazil has found reserves of manganese ores of about 208 billion tons of bauxite, 55 million tons, nickel, the amount of which can be estimated at 400 million tons. This estimate includes the latest discovery of this metal, or rather its deposits in the state of Goias. The fact of the presence of a large uranium ore deposit with a high uranium content - 1.31% in the state of Minas Gerais and Goias is also of great importance.
Brazil has reserves of zirconium, potassium, phosphates, tungsten, cassiterite (tin ore), lead, graphite, chromium, gold, as well as a rare radioactive mineral - thorium. It should be noted that Brazil owns 90% of the world's gem production. Of these, it should be noted aquamarines, diamonds, topaz, amethysts, tourmalines and emeralds, etc.
The share of electricity generated by the country's hydroelectric power plants is estimated at 255 million kWh. Lacking significant reserves of coal (prior to the latest discoveries like oil), Brazil has invested heavily in the planning and construction of power plants to meet the power needs of a booming economy.
The Itaipu hydroelectric power plant, the largest in the world, is located on the Parana River, on the Brazilian-Paraguayan border, near the Igwasu Falls. The construction of this station began in the mid-70s. Since 1985, three of 18 operating turbine generators with a capacity of 700 MW each began to operate.
At present, with 18 turbine generators in operation, electricity production in Itaipu is 12.6 million kW. This energy is evenly divided between Brazil and Paraguay.
The Tukurui hydroelectric power station, built in the southwestern part of the Amazon Basin, generates an additional 8 million kWh of electricity in addition to Brazil's total electricity supply.
In the past three decades, Brazil's new industries have made significant strides - the automotive industry and, as a result, the manufacture of automotive parts. In 1957, several factories were launched. Currently, the country produces a million cars annually. Their components are 100% made in Brazil. The country is now in 10th place among the world leaders in the production of cars, and domestic cars are distinguished by a special and unique design of performance.
It is also worth mentioning the state of the country's agriculture. Agriculture, from the very beginning of the colonial transition, played a major role in the economy. The economy of this industry relied on large lands and produced the only export crop - sugar cane. Its collection depended on the productivity of the slaves. Since the cultivation of sugar cane in the 16th century. the country's economic development has constantly depended on the ups and downs in agriculture. Sugarcane was followed by cotton, coffee, cocoa, rubber, etc. These crops also began to have a large share in production, and the country's economy also depended on their harvest.
In the 70s, the number of names of exported agricultural products increased. The record was broken by soybeans, ahead of traditional crops - sugar, coffee, cocoa. The volume and variety of agricultural commodities in the form of semi-finished and finished goods has increased significantly as the government has stimulated the production of finished goods.
Agriculture in the 80s continued to be among the primary tasks in the country's economy. However, individually, for example, coffee or rubber crops have ceased to play a dominant role. Through concessional lending and financial incentives, the federal government has promoted more efficient agriculture. In addition, efforts were made to control the migration of the rural population to urban areas: benefits extended to rural areas, and plans for agrarian reform were implemented. Small, still not profitable, industries were stimulated. Thus, the overall quality of life improved in areas remote from major centers.
From 1980 to 2000, agricultural production grew at a galloping rate than the population - a ratio of 40/25. That is, the number of products exceeded the population, the consequence was that the country could not be afraid of such a problem as hunger. Also, this event allowed Brazilian manufacturers to supply more products to the foreign and domestic markets.
Twenty percent of Brazil's workforce is employed in agriculture. In terms of the export of agricultural products, the country ranks third in the world. Its share in the world export of these products is 6.1%. The share of agricultural products in Brazil's exports reaches almost a third. In the structure of the industry, crop production is in the lead, it accounts for 60% of the value of all production, and in the course of the evolution of land use and land tenure systems, the institution of large land ownership has developed. Latifundia (80% of all cultivated land). In addition, small landholdings - minifundia - are widespread.
In the north of Brazil, there is a huge forest area of the Amazon, which occupies 60% of the entire territory of the country. But the reserves of valuable timber species are not used to their full capacity. Procurement of nuts, collection of rubber and medicinal plants is of the greatest importance, the Kazakh-Zerno news agency reports.
To this day, coffee is one of the main export items in Brazil. In 2008, 2790.8 million tons of coffee were harvested. Thus, Brazil is in first place in the world for this indicator. The main consumer crops in Brazil are wheat, corn and rice. In 2008, harvested: maize - 59 million tons (two crops are harvested), rice - 12 million tons.
The livestock sector in Brazil is predominantly meat-based. It provides about 40% of the value of agricultural products. The country is also dominated by pasture cattle breeding, as well as beef cattle breeding in combination with vegetable growing. Livestock raising is most widespread in the central-western part of the country. In 2008, the country had 30 million pigs, 176 million cattle, 1,050 million poultry and 15 million sheep.
Based on the above data, we can conclude that the Brazilian economy is currently developing rapidly. Agriculture, which is the leading link in the entire economy of the country, does not stand still. The country has a natural potential that it can use. The country is rich in minerals, which speaks of the country's advantageous position. It should be noted that old industries have not been forgotten, new ones are developing. The next chapter will examine the economic relationship of the country's economy with other countries of the world.
3 BRAZIL'S INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC RELATIONS
One of the characteristic features of the Brazilian economy is the rapid development of its international economic relations. The leading role among them is played by foreign trade.
Brazil accounts for 0.9% of world exports. This figure roughly corresponds to the level of the 1980s (1%), but it is below the level of the mid-1970s. The Brazilian figure is twice that of Argentina, but slightly below that of Mexico.
The dynamics of foreign trade decreased every year. For example, in the 80s, exports, on average, were at the level of 7.5% per year, in the 90s - by 4.9%.
Due to the decline in commodity prices, this dynamic continued to increase. Foreign trade occupies a relatively modest place in the production of GDP. 7-9% of the gross product is exported (14.5% in 1984). Brazil differs significantly in terms of export and import quotas from many other developing countries. First of all, the differences from the countries of Latin America are visible. There it is 1.5-2 times higher. Therefore, the Brazilian economy is focused mainly on the domestic market.
The institutional structure of foreign trade shows the oligopolistic structure of the Brazilian economy. About a hundred large companies receive a significant portion of their export earnings. At the same time, the role of the state is reduced. Export regulation programs were curtailed, as a result of which the state monopoly on trade in sugar, coffee, and grain was reduced.
After structural changes in the economy, there were significant shifts in exports. The share of services increased (11.6% in 1997 against 6.8% in 1982) and manufactured goods (over 53% of export supplies are manufactured goods, in 1983 - 39%). In the Brazilian economy, there are two product groups that are exported - metals and vehicles, as well as footwear. The first two groups account for over 10% of the total export volume. Soybeans and coffee are the largest export earnings to date - 7.9% and 3.3%, respectively.
The importance of structural changes in export trade is determined by the increase in the share of machinery and tools. According to this indicator, Brazil is inferior to such Latin American countries as Mexico, Chile and Argentina. Its manufacturing exports remain unprofitable. In terms of the share of high-tech goods, Brazil lags behind countries with a low average income per capita (15%).
Brazilian coffee takes the leading place in world exports. For certain commodity groups: - 16-17%. Colombia has come close to the volume of its supplies to the world market. For the export of soybeans, Brazil is second only to the United States. In recent years, the country has taken one of the leading positions in the export of orange juice. For a long time, it was the largest exporter of iron ore (30%), ferroalloys, footwear, as well as feed, steel, and internal combustion engines.
Freedom of foreign trade to a large extent stimulated the growth of imports, and especially of technically complex products, rather than an increase in exports. Brazilian entrepreneurs have ceded their positions in the medium and high-tech industries to foreign companies.
Traditionally, the bulk of Brazilian imports are machinery and equipment, fuels and consumer goods. In a number of areas of technology and equipment, complete dependence on imports remains.
The country's exports, according to the latest data, amount to 223 billion . USD, and imports 243 billion . US dollars. The largest trading partner is the United States, which accounts for about 20% of foreign trade turnover. In turn, the share of Brazil in American imports in the 90s was 2.4-1.6%, reaching significant values in purchases of orange juice (86%), coffee, tobacco, nuts, iron ore, tin and footwear.
Industrialized countries absorb most of the exported machinery and equipment. In the mid-1990s, the United States alone accounted for over 40% of Brazilian exports of this group of goods. Exports of processed goods come from the southeastern regions, and commodities from the southern states. Trade with Latin American countries has developed greatly, in particular, the share of LAAI countries is 17% of foreign trade turnover, the importance of countries belonging to the Mercosur group is rapidly increasing.
Over the past century, Brazil has been very attractive to foreign investors. They invest their capital in loan and business forms. It largely covered the current account deficit.
A large share in the inflow of foreign loan capital into the country fell on short-term capital. He went abroad when signs of trouble appeared. Large flows of loan capital led to a rapid increase in external debt. In the late 1990s, it exceeded $ 232 billion ($ 120 billion in 1990). Back in the early 1980s, debt service exceeded a critical level, exceeding 40% of the value of exports of goods and services. For the sake of supporting national economic development, the government decided to stop servicing external debt.
The international debt crisis has taken a heavy toll on the country's economic development. Since Brazil has a large external debt, domestic production per capita has decreased. Capital outflow from the country gradually took place. In the late 1980s, an agreement was reached with creditors to refinance the bulk of the debt. In 1992, a “memorandum of intent” was developed under which Brazil received new loans in exchange for a tough program of socio-economic measures. The option of debt settlement imposed by creditors - refinancing mainly on commercial terms - changed the features of foreign economic relations.
The inflow of foreign direct investments is of great importance in the system of world economic relations in Brazil. During the 90s, it increased more than 30 times.
For several decades, Brazil has been among the top ten recipient countries of foreign capital. It accounts for 3.8% of global foreign direct investment, 12.8% in the developing world and 38% in Latin America (1998). The positions of foreign capital strengthened significantly in the 90s, as the international debt was settled.
It is estimated that foreign enterprises employ 3% of the country's workforce and 13.4% in manufacturing. Foreign capital has infiltrated practically all links of the credit system. Among the fifty largest banking groups, 12 are controlled or headed by foreign banks. Foreign multinational corporations control half of Brazil's exports. The export of dividends from the country rose sharply - from 2.1% in 1991 to 10.3% of the value of exports in 1997. The relationship between national and foreign capital is changing in favor of the latter, as enterprises are privatized.
The bulk of direct investment belongs to American multinational corporations, followed by Japanese, German and Swiss ones. British capital, which previously occupied a prominent place in the Brazilian economy, reduced its influence.
In recent decades, the role of Brazil in the movement of capital has changed significantly, it has become its exporter . The entry of Brazilian capital to foreign markets took place in the mid-70s. He filled the vacant industrial niches that were bypassed by entrepreneurial capital from Western countries. In the manufacturing industry, priority was given to the oil refining and construction industries. Developing countries, first of all, have become the zone of investment activity. Overseas investment by Brazilian companies is relatively small, accounting for 0.2% of global overseas investment, 3% of all overseas investment in developing countries, but 17% of all Latin American companies.
The formation of "surplus" capital was facilitated by the duality of the economy, an unstable economic situation. The registered export of capital is adjacent to a large shadow outflow, the average annual value of which in the 90s exceeded $ 0.4 billion.
Calculations on current transactions in the balance of payments were reduced with a negative balance, which surpassed more than 4% of GDP, which weakened the country's foreign exchange positions.
As you can see, the Brazilian development model is characterized by dependence on Western countries in the financial sector, a high share of raw materials and semi-finished products in exports. A high share of imports of technology, machinery, equipment, an increase in dependence on TNCs.
The Brazilian government sees a good means of expanding foreign markets in the creation of integration associations. It is worth noting that Brazil took an active part in the formation of the Free Trade Association (LAST), which was established in 1960. Subsequently, it was transformed into the Association for Latin American Integration.
Dissatisfaction with the low rates of economic convergence and the slow development of trade within the zone caused an intensification of relations with Argentina. In March 1991, an agreement was signed to establish a common market for the Southern Cone (Mercosur). This integration group includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. From January 1995, common external tariffs were introduced, transforming Mercosur into a customs union. The agreement covers not only the economic, but also the humanitarian sphere. In 1996, Mercosur concluded agreements with Chile and Bolivia on the creation of free trade zones.
The common market is an important element of Brazil's foreign economic policy. He can play the role of a geopolitical and economic counterbalance to the policy of the United States, the traditional leader in the Western Hemisphere. The association concentrates 45% of the population of all Latin America and more than 50% of its industrial potential. Brazil views Mercosur as a first step towards wider regional integration, towards the creation of a free trade area in South America. In late 1993, she put forward a proposal to form a South American Free Trade Area (SAFTA) within ten years.
The participants in Mercosur pursue a policy of "open regionalism", an example of which was the conclusion of a general agreement on economic cooperation with the EU at the end of 1995. The process of regional cooperation is taking place under the conditions of a strong influence on it from the United States. Branches of American TNCs send almost half of their exports from Brazil to other Latin American countries. In the early 90s, their share was 26%.
The attachment of many Latin American countries to the US market, the strengthened position of the regional dollar hinder the strengthening of the influence of Mercosur and the formation of a South American free trade zone.
Economic relations are developing within the framework of the Brazilian-Russian protocol of intent on trade and economic cooperation. The basis of economic ties is commodity trade - exports to the Russian Federation consist of coffee, sugar, cocoa, meat, chickens, cigarettes, which account for more than 90% of supplies. Footwear occupies a prominent place in the export nomenclature. In imports, the first place belongs to fertilizers and alcohol. The purchases of machinery and equipment, in particular, power and metallurgical equipment, carried out in the 1980s, have ceased and are unlikely to be revived in the future.
According to statistics, the mutual trade turnover is gradually recovering after the fall due to the global financial crisis. Unfortunately, it has not yet reached its former 2008 $ 8 billion (in 2011 - $ 7.77 billion), but is gradually approaching this indicator. It is pertinent to recall that in 2004 the leaders of the two countries set a goal - to increase mutual trade turnover to $ 10 billion a year. This would help bring the economies of the two countries closer together and achieve many economic privileges. But, unfortunately, this indicator, due to some circumstances, was not achieved.
CONCLUSION
Based on the main part of the abstract, certain conclusions can be drawn. The Brazilian economy in the course of historical and political processes experienced difficulties in development, but the competently implemented policy of the heads of state was able to get it out of the predicament.
As for the current state of the Brazilian economy, there are positive trends in development. The automotive industry is well developed in the country, a large share is accounted for by the export of agricultural products. The consequence of which is the development of agriculture. Also in the country there is a developed energy sector and there are reserves of minerals. In order to better balance oil with the production of crude oil, research work was carried out to find another fuel source other than oil. An alternative solution is to make ethanol, added from sugar cane. With the aim of using ethanol as a fuel substitute for gasoline and increasing its production, the National Alcohol Production Program was adopted. All this suggests that the Brazilian economy was looking for alternatives so as not to be dependent on countries for the supply of oil.
Brazil's economic relations with other countries are difficult to characterize. On the one hand, it has ties with Russia and other Latin American countries, on the other hand, Brazil's dependence on US investments, as well as on the dollar, is visible. But recently, Brazil itself began to export its capital, that is, it became its exporter. Although its share is not large, in our opinion, trends in the future will have a positive slope.
From this essay, the problem of excess of imports from exports in Brazil became clear. This problem is very important, since the country is dependent on external supplies. This was partly due to the 2008 crisis.
In our opinion, if the exports of this Latin American country exceed imports, then Brazil will be able to increase its role in the economy for its further prosperity.
LIST OF USED SOURCES
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3. World economy: an introduction to foreign economic activity: textbook. for stud., teaching. by econ. specialist. / ed. A.V. Alekseev. - M .: Logos, 2012.- 421 p.
4. World economy and foreign economic activity: textbook. for stud., teaching. by econ. specialist. / ed. M. I. Lotnitskiy. - M .: Yurayt, 2011. - 614 p.
5. Faminsky. I. P. World economy: dynamics, structure of production, world commodity markets: textbook. - 3rd ed., Erased. - M .: Publishing house "Magister", 2010. - 668 p.
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Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………… 2
Statistical overview …………………………………………………………………… 2
History …………………………………………………………………………………… 4
Independence …………………………………………………………………………… 7
Empire …………………………………………………………………………………… 9
Republic ………………………………………………………………………………… 10
Modern Brazil ………………………………………………………………… ..12
Historical perspective ……………………………………………………………… 15
Brazilian nature ……………………………………………………………………… .. 17
Seasons ……………………………………………………………………………… .19
Industrial development ……………………………………………………………… .. 19
a) Oil and oil products
b) Ethanol production
c) Energy production
d) New industries
Mineral resources …………………………………………………………………… 22
Population……………………………………………………………………………………. 23
a) Population distribution
b) Races
d) Language
System of government ………………………………………………………………………… .. 28
a) Legislature
b) Executive power
c) The judiciary
Features of economic development. …………………………………………………. 32
a) Growth rates.
b) Conditions and growth factors
c) Structural changes in the economy
d) Regional and social imbalances
Stages of economic development …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 37
The main features of the socio-economic structure ………………………………… 40
a) General features
b) Features of the structure of the private sector.
c) The role of the state.
Foreign economic relations of Brazil. …………………………………………………… 43
a) Positions in world trade.
b) The position of the country in the movement of capital.
c) Integration policy
Transport ……………………………………………………………………………………… 49
Rio de Janeiro. City holiday ………………………………………………………………………. 49
Sao Paulo. City worker ………………………………………………………………… 50
Brasilia. Mirage city ……………………………………………………………………… 51
Attractions ……………………………………………………………………………… .. 52
INTRODUCTION
Brazil is the largest country in Latin America. By the size of the territory, it is second only to the Russian Federation, the USA, China and Canada, it has large reserves of more than 30 types of mineral raw materials. The population exceeds 160 million people, accounting for 2.6% of the world's population. The country produces about 2% of the VMP. Brazil accounts for 2/3 of the industrial potential of South America, over half of the scientific and technological potential
Brazil's GDP is equal to half of the gross product of the PRC, but is twice as large as in India, and 1.7 times higher than in Russia.
According to many socio-economic characteristics, Brazil belongs to the developing countries, but it occupies a special place among them. With great economic potential and a fairly high level of economic development, it is one of the newly industrialized countries.
STATISTICAL OVERVIEW
We can say that in the twentieth century, the population of Brazil has aged. The number of children under 14 fell from 43% to 34%, while the number of residents over 60 increased from 4% to 8%. Life expectancy has increased from 45 to 77 years. The number of literate people increased from 50% to 77%. The supply of labor exceeds the demand for it, therefore, it was required to create approximately 1.600.000 new jobs annually in order to provide work for everyone.
In cities, 90% of houses are provided with water and sewerage, and 98% have electricity. At the same time, in rural areas, only 17% of dwellings have water supply and sewerage systems, and only 55% use electricity. 77% of Brazilian households have refrigerators. It has its own phone and car for every 10 people.
60% of Brazil's energy consumption comes from renewable sources such as hydropower and ethanol. Half of all oil consumed is also produced domestically. Brazil is the largest exporter of iron and one of the world's largest exporters of steel. Other important raw materials produced in Brazil include petrochemical raw materials, aluminum, non-ferrous metals, fertilizers and cement. Among the finished products manufactured in Brazil, it should be noted that machinery, aviation equipment, electrical and electronic equipment, textiles, clothing and footwear. Brazil's largest trading partners are the United States, Germany, Switzerland, Great Britain, France, Argentina, Mexico and Canada.
At the beginning of the last decade of the twentieth century, the Brazilian economy was in 10th place in the world. Brazil's economic activity is higher than in other developing countries. Exports account for 10% of its Gross Domestic Product and industry for about 30%, which is similar to that of some developed countries.
In 1991 the economically active population of the country reached 64 million. 41% of workers are employed in the service sector, 23% in agriculture and 18% in industry. 12% work in trade, and 6% in construction.
From the very beginning of the colonial period, agriculture played a major role in the economy. The agricultural economy relied on large land, producing the only export crop, and depended on the productivity of slaves. Ever since the cultivation of sugar cane in the 16th century, the country's economic development has consistently depended on ups and downs in agriculture. Sugarcane was followed by cotton, cocoa, rubber and coffee.
The 70s were characterized by a general increase in the number of items of exported agricultural products. The record was broken by soybeans, ahead of traditional Brazilian coffee, cocoa and sugar. The volume and variety of agricultural products in the form of semi-finished products and finished products has increased significantly, thanks to the government stimulation of the production of finished products.
In the 1980s, agriculture continued to play a significant role in the country's economy, but separately agricultural crops, for example, sugar, coffee, rubber, ceased to play a dominant role. Through financial incentives and concessional lending, the federal government has promoted more efficient agriculture. In addition, efforts were made to control the migration of the rural population to urban areas: benefits were extended to the countryside, rational plans for agrarian reform were adopted, small, still unprofitable agricultural production was stimulated and, in general, the quality of life in the regions improved. remote from major centers.
From 1980 to 1992, agricultural production grew (38%) faster than the population (26%). This allowed Brazilian producers to produce more, not only for the domestic market, but also for export.
In the early 1990s, Brazil continued to be the largest cocoa producer, ranking fourth in tobacco production and sixth in cotton. Various programs that have been adopted over the past two decades aimed at cultivating a variety of agricultural products have yielded overwhelming results. The production of cereals increased significantly, including wheat, rice, corn and especially soybeans. Forest fruits such as rubber (which has always been a vital element of Brazilian exports), Brazil nuts, cashews, waxes and fibers are now grown on special plantations, rather than harvested from the original trees of the forest, as was the practice in earlier times. Thanks to its diverse climate, Brazil grows all varieties of fruits, from tropical fruits in the north (various nuts and avocados) to huge numbers of citrus fruits and grapes in the more temperate regions of the south. In 1992, 83.6% of oranges were exported as concentrated juice, generating US $ 1.5 billion in revenue. Brazil is the fourth largest beef producer in the world and the fifth largest exporter of beef.
HISTORY
In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Portugal was an Iberian kingdom with a million inhabitants, located on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean and bordered by the royal house of Castile, which was hostile to her. Years after fighting the Arab invaders, the Portuguese turned all their attention and energy towards the sea and far beyond. While the Spaniards roamed the seas in the west in search of a way to the East, the Portuguese chose for themselves the so-called "southern route" along the African coast. Reaching the Cape of Good Hope in 1487, Portuguese sailors led by Vascu da Gama opened a sea route to the East across the Indian Ocean in 1497. They knew about the existence of land on the other side of the Atlantic, and they even equipped several expeditions to the West even before the discovery of the Antilles by Columbus in 1492. However, they kept it a secret, not wanting ambitious Spain, England and France to thwart their plans. For a small country, the secret was the only way to protect itself from the ambitions of stronger maritime competitors.
Tordesillas Treaty (1494) defined the boundaries of new possessions between Spain and Portugal. It was about the fact that according to the treaty, the territories to the east of the Greenwich meridian to 370 legua to the west of the Cape Verde Islands were withdrawn by Portugal, and the lands to the west of it - by Spain. This imaginary line, stretching between the two poles, crossed Latin America in the east and became Brazil's first border, although it was officially discovered by Pedro Alvarez Cabral only six years later, in 1500.
Country Information (Country Panel)
Brazil is the largest country in terms of area and population in South America, one of the leading developing powers in the world with high political ambitions.
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The country's wealth is an abundance of fresh water, food and energy resources, and biological diversity. Brazil is extremely rich in natural resources, especially non-ferrous and rare earth metals.
The geopolitical indicators of this country distinguish Brazil from other countries in South America. Brazil is the largest country in the Latin America and the Caribbean region and by population, occupies almost half of the mainland and the fifth largest country in the world (after Russia, Canada, China and the United States).
- Government: presidential republic
- Population: 202.6 million (2014)
- Area: 8.5 million sq. Km (2012), incl. 26.3% of the area is protected by nature reserves.
- Largest cities: Brasilia (capital), Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Belo Horizonte, Fortaleza.
- The language is Portuguese (from 1500 to 1822, Brazil was a Portuguese colony, so now it is the only Portuguese-speaking on the American continents).
- Religion: Catholic (country with the largest Catholic population in the world: 65% of Brazilians are Catholics).
- Water: 1st place in the world in terms of fresh water reserves
Brazil is the seventh world power in terms of GDP, has a fairly high level of scientific and technological development and a well-equipped armed forces.
Brazil is a member of a number of international economic organizations: it is a member of the WTO, MERCOSUR, UNASUR, G8 +5, G20 and the Kern Group, and also plays an active role in the work of informal international BRICS groups and the IBAC Dialogue Forum (India, Brazil, South Africa).
Currently, according to the UN classification, Brazil is classified as a "newly industrialized country". It is also classified as an emerging market country.
Brazil accounts for up to 2/3 of the industrial potential of the countries of the region and over half of their scientific and technological potential. Borders... Brazil is very peaceful: it has lived in peace with its ten neighbors for almost 150 years, and it has established its borders through negotiations. It shares borders with all states of South America, except Chile and Ecuador: Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay, French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana, Venezuela. The last time she entered the war only in 1942 after the direct aggression of the Nazi submarine fleet in the South Atlantic.
Administrative structure:
- 26 states and 1 federal (metropolitan) district or
- 5 regions (North, North-East, Central-West, South-East, South).
The culture Brazil was formed under the influence of three ethno-cultural layers: European (primarily Portuguese), African and Indian. The Brazilian Carnival dates back to the 16th century. Bossanova, samba also characterize the country.
Population
The rapid decline in the birth rate since the 1960s to 0.8% in 2014 (137th in the world, Russia 200th). High poverty rate. Brazil is traditionally considered a country with a net influx of immigrants. 84.5% are urban population. Literacy - 90.4% (low). Conscription - 9-12 months.
Transport
- Airports: 2nd place in the world (after the USA) in terms of the number of airports / aerodromes (4093 in 2013, for comparison: in Russia - 1218).
- Railways: 28.5 thousand km, 10th place in the world.
- Roads: 1.58 million km - 4th place in the world.
- Waterways: 5 thousand km - 3rd place in the world,
- Water fleet: 109 (48th in the world).
Energy
- In terms of the amount of energy consumed, Brazil ranks 10th in the world (and 1st in Latin America).
- Not so long ago, huge oil reserves were discovered in the country and the oil and gas industry is booming.
- Most of the country's energy is produced from renewable sources - from ethanol (based on sugar cane): this is a large export item - 2 billion liters of ethanol in FY 2005 out of 16.6 billion liters produced). However, the industrial production of ethanol from rapeseed and sugarcane is causing irreparable damage to the country's natural environment.
Industry
Brazil is the world leader in iron ore mining (20%) and a monopoly in niobium mining (95%). The country ranks second in the world in the production of manganese (13%) and tantalum (16%), is in the top five states for the extraction of bauxite, tin, lithium, magnesium and is in sixth place in terms of uranium reserves.
The science
Brazil is a recognized leader in the development of science and technology in South America. In the development of technologies for the production of biofuels, agricultural research, technologies for deep-sea oil production, as well as remote sensing of the Earth, Brazil rightfully occupies a leading position in the world.
Agriculture
- 4th place in the world for grain production (after China, USA and India), 1st place for sugar production and oranges.
- Main products: coffee, soybeans, wheat, rice, corn, sugarcane, cocoa, citrus fruits, beef.
Economy
Brazil is the most economically developed state in Latin America.
The economy of modern Brazil is characterized by well-developed agriculture, mining and manufacturing industries, and the service sector. After strong growth in the period 2003-2007. the 2008 global financial crisis hit Brazil as well.
Nevertheless, Brazil was one of the first in the world to recover from the crisis relatively painlessly and began to resume the growth of its economy. The anti-crisis policy was based on large investments in the development of domestic infrastructure projects, the development of domestic demand by expanding and simplifying lending standards for individuals and legal entities, reducing the tax burden on the national production of export products and household appliances.
Up to 90% of the domestic demand for industrial goods is provided through its own production in the country. More than 80% of the demand for machinery and equipment is satisfied. A number of competitive Brazilian goods (aircraft, buses, cars, trucks, tractors and road construction machines, energy equipment, electrical and electronic appliances, etc.) are supplied to the world market.
The main indicators of the development of the Brazilian economy (sources: CIA, IBGE):
| GDP PPP | $ 2,416 billion (2013) |
| Gdp | $ 1482 billion (2012) |
| GDP growth rate | 2.3% in 2013 (2.7% in 2011, 0.9% in 2012) |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | $ 12,100 (2013) |
| GDP structure by sector of origin | 5.5% - agriculture, 26.4% - industry, 68.1% - services (2013). |
| Industrial production growth | 3% (2013), decline from 10.5% (2010), 0.4% (2011), -2.7% (2012) |
| Unemployment rate | 5.7% in 2013 |
| Population below the poverty line | 21,4% |
| Average real wages | 2012: R $ 1,793.96 (about US $ 896) (minimum wage R $ 622.00) Differences in wage levels for women and men (R $ 1,489.01 vs. R $ 2,048.34) and white and black workers (R $ 1,255.92 versus R $ 2,237.14) In the public sector, R $ 4001.60 against R $ 2,181.00 in the private sector. |
| The purchasing power of the average wage | Growth by 27% over the period 2003-2012 |
| Family budget distribution - Gini index | 51.9% in 2012 (16th in the world) |
| National debt | 59.2% of GDP in 2013 (low) |
| Budget surplus | 1.6% of GDP in 2013 |
| Inflation rate | 6.2% in 2013 (180th place in the world), 5.4% in 2012 |
| Growth in retail turnover | 8.4% in 2012 |
| Budget | $ 851.1 billion - revenues in 2013, $ 815.6 billion - expenses. |
| $ 475.9 billion (to 31.12.13), growth from $ 242.5 billion (2000) |
|
| Foreign exchange and gold reserves | 378.3 billion (31.13.13) |
| Doing Business Rankings 2014 | 116 |
Brazilian GDP dynamics
| Year | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 |
| Gdp | 6,1 | 5,2 | -0,3 | 7,5 | 2,7 | 0,9 | 2,3 |
Source: Central Bank of Brazil
Priority industries
The Brazilian government's Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento (PAC), adopted in January 2007 by the Brazilian government, envisioned a targeting of the country's economy in the period 2007-2010. investments of about US $ 301 billion. The priority areas of the PAC were identified: the construction of road, water and rail transport routes, the construction and reconstruction of ports and airports, sanitation facilities, as well as hydroelectric power plants. After the completion, mainly of the construction of PAC projects, in 2010 in Brazil the new stage of this program is PAC-2. For the purpose of the program during 2010-2012. investments in the projects of the program amounted to about USD 236 billion.
The Brazilian government also considers civil construction to be a priority sector, investments in which in accordance with the program “My home, my life” (Minha Casa, Minha Vida) - housing construction for middle and low-income strata of the population - amounted to 188.1 billion in the specified period. reais (about $ 94 billion).
In addition to these industries, due to large public and private investments, as well as targeted tax incentives, the country continued to actively develop the automotive industry, the chemical industry, the mining industry, medicine, aircraft construction and programs for the use of outer space for peaceful purposes, hydrocarbon production, informatics, telecommunications, agro-industrial complex and arms production. The service sector has been developing more successfully than others in recent years. The enterprises of transnational companies in the food industry, which produce products at the level of world standards, are equipped with modern equipment. Attention is paid to traditional industries with export potential - footwear, textile, clothing industry, tourism.
Main commodity markets
The main commodity markets in Brazil are the industrial markets. The largest of these are the markets for automobiles, household appliances, building materials, cement, communications equipment, metal, vehicles, ready-made clothing and footwear.
Traditionally important for the country are the markets for agricultural products, the largest of which are the markets for meat and meat products, ethanol, sugar, soybeans, corn, milk, rice, fertilizers, and leather.
With a highly developed agriculture, Brazil is the world's largest producer and exporter of sugar, coffee and orange juice and ranks second in the world in terms of production of ethanol, beef, tobacco, soybeans, leather and animal skins; third place - for the production of chicken meat, footwear, iron ore mining. The country has the largest commercial cattle herd in the world. Brazil's share in world trade in agricultural products is about 7%. Brazil is the world's third largest exporter of agricultural products. The country is the fourth largest aircraft exporter in the world.
Electronic commerce- rapid growth:
- 20-25% - annual growth,
- 88.5 million people - the number of Internet users in 2013 (in Russia - 68 million people),
- 45% - Internet penetration rate in 2012,
- $ 20 billion - e-commerce turnover (forecast by 2015).
International trade
Dynamics of Brazilian foreign trade in 2008-2012, billion US dollars
| Export | ||||||
| Import | ||||||
| Balance |
