Author: Lucas Bento*
Published: August 2013
Description:
“Emerging? No. Brazil has already emerged.”
I. INTRODUCTION
The tables have turned. Multi-National Enterprises (“MNEs”) hailing from developed countries are no longer exclusive protagonists in the Foreign Direct Investment (“FDI”) arena. Indeed, the world has begun to focus attention on MNEs from emerging markets. Brazil, with its thriving economy and growing international presence, is a case in point.
Endowed with the seventh largest economy in the world, Brazil has attracted considerable attention from investors, economists and governments around the world. This resource-rich country is home to prominent global companies, such as Petrobras, one of the world’s largest oil companies, and Vale, the world’s biggest iron ore producer. Although commodities are undoubtedly one of Brazil’s economic strengths, the country also boasts thriving banking and insurance communities, as well as a well-developed technological industry.
*LL.B., LL.M, PGDip. The author is an Associate at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP and Chair of the International Arbitration Sub-Committee of the Inter-American Affairs Committee at the New York City Bar Association. The author would like to thank Dr. Karl Sauvant from Columbia Law School for his comments on an earlier version of this paper. The author is also grateful for the comments provided by Gabriel Alves Da Costa (legal counsel at Shell Oil Company), Jonathan Hamilton (partner at White & Case), William Mack (director, Executive Secretariat United States Trade Representative at the White House), and Rebecca Cockayne (Univeristy of Oxford). I am extremely indebted to the editorial team of The American Review of International Arbitration, and particularly to Elizabeth Cooper. Many thanks also go to Professor Carlos Borromeu de Andrade (international general counsel, Petrobras) and Thiago Bento (founder of Knoow.it) for comments on an earlier draft of this article. It is important to emphasize that they should not be taken to agree with any of the views herein, nor with my expression of them. All errors remain may own.