Integration among Latin American countries is key to attract foreign investment, says Brazilian minister

According to Brazil’s Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, integration among Latin American countries and the production of clean energy are key elements to attract foreign investments in the region and promote industrialization and growth in the continent.

The Finance Ministry’s press office revealed that at a conference during the World Economic Forum in Davos (Switzerland), Haddad assured that the integration process involves investment in infrastructure, trade agreements between countries, and the strengthening of Mercosur, including the incorporation of new members.

“We understand that regional integration is imperative for our development,” said the Brazilian minister at an event also attended by the presidents of Colombia, Gustavo Petro; of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso; of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves; and the Vice President of the Dominican Republic, Raquel Peña.

Haddad recalled that with the return to power of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil would once again have more relations with Latin America, something that had already happened in the two previous terms of Lula and Dilma Rousseff.

The Brazilian minister highlighted the possibility of integrating Latin America through transmission lines and said that the region has great potential to attract investments from companies interested in integrating their productive chains with the generation of clean energy, whether solar, hydraulic, wind, or from green hydrogen.

“This can be a factor of attraction for industries that want to produce from clean energies so that their entire production chain is in tune with the environmental determinations that today are unavoidable,” he said.

For Haddad, only with this integration will the countries of the continent be able to face the large economic blocs represented by the European Union and the United States.

“I believe integrating our markets to gain considerable scale is an important element to attract foreign investment compatible with our needs to offer higher quality jobs for our workers.”

“So, it is not just a matter of investing in education, but of attracting a type of investment that our region currently has a significant deficit,” he said.