Bloomberg published an article this month quoting Mark Mobius, executive chairman of Franklin Templeton Investment’s Emerging Markets Group, saying that “We continue to keep our long-term eye on Brazil, one of the world’s most exciting markets”.
Two expressions immediately gathered my attention. First, “long-term eye”. Second, “exciting”.
Without delving too deeply into semantics, “long-term eye” is what we emphasise to exporters going into Latin America, with Brazil being the country that probably requires the most long-term view, given the size of the market. Exporting efficiently into Brazil will require a strategic long-term approach since it will impact very highly on your business given the capital and other resource requirements.
This long-view is important in working out how to actually penetrate the Brazilian market. Will you go for a distribution agreement? Will you go for JV? Maybe even manufacture locally? Creativity is key since this is a tricky market to get into.
Now, what exactly does “exciting” mean? He didn’t say profitable… (although coming from an investor, “exciting” could equate to “potentially very lucrative”…). He certainly didn’t say “easy”… Exciting means opportunities. That, coupled with “long-term” means that Brazil is not for everyone. That is something we discuss often with our clients. Brazil is a very promising market – but there’s low-hanging fruit in other markets…
