BRIC to Lead Way Out of Crisis, Says Brasilinvest's Mario Garnero

SAO PAULO, August 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Emerging Markets key to global growth, Garnero tells Fundacao Dom Cabral's international board

Mario Garnero, Chairman of Brasilinvest, Brazil's pioneer merchant bank, stated yesterday in Sao Paulo that BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) "are leading the way towards economic growth out of the current turmoil. They will be powerhouse of the world economy for years to come." He added that Brazil's economy, whose dynamic growth has caught global attention, is "not experiencing a credit bubble."

He addressed an audience of business and political leaders during the 2011 Congress of Fundacao Dom Cabral, one of Latin America's top business schools according to the Financial Times global MBA rankings. Garnero's talk followed lectures by Duncan Niederauer, president of the New York Stock Exchange, Ruben Vardanian, president of Russia's Skolkovo School, Enrique Iglesias, former president of the Inter-American Development Bank, and Geraldo Alckmin, Governor of Sao Paulo.

"Brazil's growth is based on sound macroeconomic management and the competitive advantages it summons in technology-intensive areas, agriculture and energy. It is important that markets realize Brazil is undergoing a robust credit expansion, not a bubble," Garnero indicates.

The Chairman of Brasilinvest explains that Brazil's austerity reshaping of the financial sector took place before the Great Recession that hit global markets as of September 2008.

In order to enhance Brazil's capacity to compete, Garnero advocates labour, social security and fiscal updates. "Brazil is now mostly a middle-class country. Social Ascension has been commonplace and unemployment kept at bay by the vigorous expansion of the domestic market", he points out.

Analyzing the growth strategy of each BRIC country, Garnero indicated that China follows a clear-cut foreign trade strategy for over 3 decades. "China will go on focused primarily in export markets, Chinese domestic market, though expanding, will lag behind".

The Chairman of Brasilinvest also stressed India's competitive edge in textiles, outsourcing and IT. He praised Russia's large scientific community and suggested greater trade and investment exchange between Russia and Brazil.

Garnero also chairs Forum das Americas, which he founded in 1965 as an independent think-tank. He announced a major conference on the so-called "Green Economy" to be held at the Harvard Club in New York in 26 September 2011 in cooperation with international corporations and NGOs.

Anamelia Meirelles
forumamericas@forumamericas.org.br
T.: +55-11-3094-7984