With the successful convening of the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, 19 Latin American countries have signed the Belt and Road Memorandum or other related documents, but Brazil is not among them. Of course, this does not mean that Brazil has no interest in the Belt and Road Initiative, let alone that Brazil resists this initiative. In May 2019, Brazilian Vice President Momin said the day before his visit to China that Brazil looks forward to joining the Belt and Road Initiative.
At present, China has maintained its position as Brazil’s largest trading partner and largest export destination for 10 consecutive years. According to statistics from China Customs, the bilateral trade volume between China and Brazil in 2018 was US$111.18 billion. Brazil is my country’s eighth largest trading partner, and my country is Brazil’s largest trading partner and export destination.
Thanks to its abundant natural resources and sufficient labor force, Brazil’s GDP ranks first in South America and eighth in the world. According to the statistics of the Brazilian Association of Exhibition Promoters (UBRAFE), there are 2,009 exhibitions in Brazil, mainly distributed in the southeast of the country (Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Espirito Santo), with the detailed distribution as follows: 75 in the north, 272 in the northeast, 147 in the central and western regions, 834 in the southeast, and 681 in the south. This is also basically the same as the economic development level of various regions in Brazil. From the perspective of the contribution rate of GDP of each region, the north accounts for 5.3%, the northeast accounts for 13.6%, the central and western regions account for 9.8%, the southeast accounts for 55.2%, and the south accounts for 16.1% (2012 data). The exhibition industry is currently in a stage of rapid development in Brazil, with an annual growth rate of about 14% in revenue.
In Brazil, commercial exhibitions are large in scale and complete in system, providing scientific and comprehensive planning and guidance of trade activities for enterprises of various fields and sizes in Brazil, and establishing an international communication platform to fully connect Brazilian enterprises with foreign enterprises and strengthen the development of multilateral trade relations.
According to statistics, there are currently 213 large-scale commercial exhibitions in Brazil, covering more than 50 major economic and trade fields (mainly concentrated in agriculture, handicrafts, hotels, beauty and cosmetics, construction, advertising, communications, electricity, food, environmental sanitation, gifts and toys, education, health, jewelry, leather, textiles, metal processing, mining, auto parts, security, rubber, plastics, transportation, logistics, sports and leisure, pets, transportation, energy, tourism, furniture and woodworking, etc.), attracting more than 35,000 Brazilian and foreign companies to participate in the exhibitions every year, and more than 3.5 million exhibitors to visit. In order to hold these commercial exhibitions, about 2.52 million square meters of exhibition halls and exhibition centers are used.
According to statistics from the International Exhibition Union, Brazil’s exhibition scale ranks 8th in the world, second only to the United States, China, Germany, Italy, France, Spain and the Netherlands, and the area of indoor exhibition halls accounts for 2% of the world’s total. In the ranking of the growth rate of indoor exhibition area in the world, Brazil also ranks 8th.
In the world exhibition industry market ranking, Brazil ranks 7th, second only to the United States, China, Germany, Italy, France and Japan. Its annual growth rate since 2008 has even reached the first place in the world. The first 10 years of the 21st century are the golden period for the establishment and development of local exhibitions in Brazil. The industry is now highly mature and standardized. Therefore, the exhibitions that have been established will continue to develop steadily in the future, and the exploration and development of new fields will not stop. The functions of industry associations, trade unions, and business federations in promoting and organizing exhibitions will become stronger and stronger. In addition, holding large-scale conferences and seminars on industry development at exhibitions is also a major trend.