Brazil: "The Country of the Future" Has Arrived7/2/2009 10:57:34 AM
“Brasil is the country of the future. And it always will be.”
That oft-repeated swipe at Brasil’s vast unfilled potential is getting old – fast.
For Brasil, the future’s here.
The main reason Brasil is stepping right to the front of the world stage is oil.
Lots of oil.
As was evident in the years before the current global mess, in a healthy economic environment, Brasil holds a lot of cards.
Brasil is sitting on the most abundant farmland in the world.
Brasil’s in the vanguard of the green economy, due to its successfully aggressive push into sugar-cane ethanol, biodiesel and hydroelectric power.
And what’s occurred in the past few years off the Brasilian coast has been nothing short of miraculous.
Brasil just became a net energy exporter in 2006. Then, fortuitously, in 2007 the Tupi oil field was discovered off the Brasilian coast.
Brasil announced that the Tupi field held some five billion to eight billion barrels of high quality crude oil and natural gas, effectively pushing Brasil’s total reserves past 17 billion barrels.
At that point, the Brasilian President, Mr. da Silva declared that “Brasil would obviously participate in OPEC,” the global oil cartel.
In 2008, Brasil's currency hit a nine-year-high against the dollar.
Inflation came under control and millions of Brasilians began ascending towards a new middle class. With lots of room to grow.
The volume of outstanding credit in Brasil in February 2008 was 34 percent of GDP. Compare that figure to 201 percent in the U.S., according to the World Bank.
The rating agency Standard & Poor's deemed Brasil "investment grade," boosting the country's stocks to all-time highs.
Brasil is the world’s leading exporter of meat, coffee, sugar, fruit juices and the second biggest exporter of grains. They’re also major players in exporting timber, iron ore, aircraft and more.
Foreign investment in Brasil has become very strong and is accelerating.
In February 2008, Brasil announced they’d paid off all their foreign debt.
The northern city of Natal is currently building what will be the world’s 5th-largest airport, which may transform the way foreigners enter the country. And it will open up a new region, the beautiful northeast with it’s pristine beaches, to international tourism.
Also in 2008 came the biggest news of all.
The state-owned energy company Petrobras announced another oil discovery which has some people calling the president "Sheikh Lula."
A massive oil field was found off the Rio de Janeiro coast.
This one, known as the Carioca field, dwarfed the Tupi discovery.
And it’s caused a political earthquake in South America with aftershocks rippling through Venezuela, the U.S. and all the way to the Middle East.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez nervously jested that Mr. da Silva was now an “oil magnate.”
Experts have said the finds could hold up to 80 billion barrels of oil or more - enough to turn Brasil into a major oil exporter.
Brasil is poised to not just solidify its position as an exporter, within 10-15 years they could become a major player in OPEC.
Signaling it’s time to get this party started, in May Brasil said they’d successfully extracted the first barrel of oil from the Tupi fields.
Of course, just as President Obama is trying to remedy our broken infrastructure, health care and education systems in the U.S., infrastructure and education are areas Brasil will need to fix to sustain their considerable economic momentum.
But they are sitting on a royal flush, so to speak.
The future’s so bright, they’re going to need shades, hats and lots of sunscreen for their leisure time on their gorgeous beaches.
Mr. da Silva calls it “a miracle.”
But their sudden good fortune doesn’t faze most laid-back Brasileiros.
Any native knows all about futebol, Carnaval and the beach.
And they also, instinctively, know “God is Brasilian.”
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