Brazil's low productivity - Comments on The Economist's article

The Economist has published an interesting article about Brazil's low productivity. Specifically, on how it has been kept low for the last 50 years.

The 50-year snooze

I could endorse it almost word for word. I would like to copy it here and highlight the best parts in bold, but I see that this would be pointless.

Instead, I shall make some remarks on the dozens of comments left by Brazilians and foreigner alike.




i) Brazilian reader's English language skills are sub par

   Many of the Brazilians  made grammar mistakes and had difficulties getting their point across.

*My English skill are also not perfect.

ii) Brazilian reader's  general written communication skills and argumentation are subpar

  Several comments relied heavily on crystallised expressions and commonplaces, for example: "complexo de vira-lata" (stray dog complex); Brazilian cursed colonial heritage; British/American arrogance; Brazilian good people exploited by the evil American empire, etc.

Several comments criticised The Economist simply for publishing an article "against" Brazil, and many other comments attacked readers who pointed out the need for modernisation in Brazilian labour laws, as if they were suggesting that Brazilian workers should be deprived of its rights.

Some of the comments are aggressive against the foreigners who live in Brazil and that agreed with the article's critics.

iii) Brazilian reader's have trouble with the use of data and objective argumentation

 Brazilians commenting the article seldom make use of data points, statistics, etc.

5 of the commentators who seemed Brazilians used wrong data. On the other hand, 2 of the commentator who seemed Brazilian used data correctly.

The other seemingly Brazilians used no figures to support their comments.

CONCLUSION

The very comments to the article seem to confirm that Brazilian workers are not as well educated and trained as their peers, at least regarding written communication and argumentation in the English language.

It is fair to assume that there are direct connections between educational level and productivity. Also, I would go as far as to assume that a population with good English language skills is probably better suited to compete with Europe and America in high technology fields. Thus, one could say that the main point of the article (Brazilian inferior productivity) is well supported by the evidence provided by the Brazilian commentators.

I should say that I know that the numbers are not statistically significant, that the sample is biased and that this is not a rigorous survey.

But please keep in mind that, in spite of the lack of statistic value, the comments are an intriguing source of information. Few Brazilians know English well enough to read The Economist (some pools mention a 5% English literacy rate). And even among this select group it was easy to spot mediocre skills.

It is OBVIOUS that Brazilians have a tremendous education and productivity problem.

When investing in Brazil, keep that in mind and try to invest in your team's training.







 

Setting up Electronic Payment Platforms in Brazil

I got another article published at Alternative Emerging Investor. Please find it below. 

You may purchase this article and the full magazine at http://www.aeinvestor.com/ 

PAYMENT PLATFORMS IN BRAZIL

Many providers of international payment services have been seeking to enter the Brazilian market.  The companies, both big and small, operate mainly through websites and focus on the intermediation of payments for merchandise. Several of them also offer direct transference services, especially between individuals.

The Brazilian market is very particular, however, due to its high level of automation and to its very strict regulation.

Brazil has implemented quasi real time retail, interbank and forex payments infrastructures in the form of automated clearing houses, overseen by the Brazilian Central  Bank.

The direct participation in such clearing houses is heavily regulated and demands investments in risk mitigation and technical infrastructure. Brazilian Central Bank will also perform a very detailed authorization process before allowing any company to become a financial institution able to take part in the backbone of the Brazilian payment system.

Smaller companies in Brazil have been able to participate in the market by acting as Point of Sale (POS) operators, intermediating the relationship between a highly dispersed customer base and a relatively concentrated base of retail providers.

The scene for international payment providers, however, remains a little opaque.  A number of companies are starting to do business in Brazil, basing their operations in a proprietary base of clients located in one specific country.  For example, one company may specialize in bank transferences made between a Brazilian community in Portugal and another specific Portuguese community in São Paulo.

These payment solution companies (PSC) might be, in effect, creating a separate, private clearing house for their own payments. This would happen, for example, if the PSC waited for similar order to be transmitted from one country to the other (one person in Brazil who wants to send 100 USD to Portugal and one person in Portugal who wants to send the same value to Brazil), and then compensated the orders within the respective countries (by depositing the 100$ sent from Brazil directly to the bank account of the person who wanted to receive money from Portugal, for example).

This kind of informal clearing of deposits would be absolutely illegal, since it would be made outside of the Brazilian payment system administered by the Central Bank.

To further complicate things, though, one must consider that if the PSC acts exclusively as a point of sale terminal, receiving data from credit cards and transmitting them for clearance before officially endorsed financial institutions in Brazil, its activities would be subject to a much less strict regulation. On the other hand, these PSC should be prepared to aid the Brazilian sellers or consumers to obtain proper tax documentation regarding the transaction, since the receipts of payment generated electronically often do not contain all the details required by Brazilian authorities.

Finally, transactions that use virtual coins, such as Bitcoin, inter alia, are out of the scope of regulation of the Brazilian Central Bank and therefore might theoretically be performed by PSC companies, even if they are not registered as or acting on behalf of financial institutions in Brazil.

The conclusion is that the operation of foreign payment solutions web sites in Brazil might be subject to two or three very different sets of rules, depending on details about how the transactions are conducted. The operations must be carefully planned in order to avoid infringement of public policy regulations. Further regulatory development, especially regarding the use of virtual coins, are expected to take place soon.

This article has originally been published at the sixth installment of - Alternative Emerging Investor.

To subscribe or purchase this issue, please visitwww.aeinvestor.com, or contact Ms. Tiffany Swensonat tiffany@aeinvestor.com.

Importing tablets and musical instruments into Brazil

FROM A CONVERSATION WITH A CLIENT (details have been changed)


Hello

My name is Sam Wilson and I am seeking any information on the process and procedures of shipping to Brazil. 

The products that I would be shipping includes: laptops, phones, tablets, and musical instruments.

I have a contact in Goiania that would re-sell the products.

What sort of licensing would be needed to ship these products into brazil?

Thank you.


S.T.Wilson

-----------------------------

Thanks for the contact. 

First of all, you must make sure that you distributor in Goiania is company licensed to import. It must possess the import license, which is commonly referred to in Brazil as RADAR (read about here).

Importing electronics into Brazil is not specially complicated. However, since you are dealing with equipments that will make us of WIFI, 3G, Bluetooth and other forms of electromagnetic communication you will need to have them certified by Anatel, the Brazilian telecommunication agency. (there is a lecture about it in the blog, but it has not been translated to English yet)

Products from famous brands such as Vaio, Dell, Nokia and Apple are probably alredy authorized by Anatel. But they are probably subject to exclusive distribution agreements too. So, don't risk selling them here before obtaining proper authorization by the owners. 

Most musical instruments are not regulated, except from toy one or some lines that are directed towards children. 

Please let me know if I can help. 

Regards 

Adler

Registro de equipamentos estrangeiros perante a ANATEL

Esse é  um trabalho que realizo com frequência.

Em breve postarei também em inglês.

International Contracts in Brazil - The Brazil Business

International Contracts in Brazil - The Brazil Business:



'via Blog this'

Construction Contracts Under The Brazilian Law - Real Estate and Construction - Brazil

Construction Contracts Under The Brazilian Law - Real Estate and Construction - Brazil:



'via Blog this'

Dissertation elaborates legal analysis of Brazil’s Individual Microentrepreneur Program | Direito - Economia - Sociedade

Dissertation elaborates legal analysis of Brazil’s Individual Microentrepreneur Program | Direito - Economia - Sociedade:



'via Blog this'