Member Article

North West advanced engineering looks to Brazil

Advanced engineering businesses in the North West have been urged to make the most of opportunities in Brazil.

UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) North West have organised a trade mission in April, which will allow textile and automotive companies to visit two key exhibitions in Sao Paulo, Tecnotextile, and Automec.

In the North West, textiles have long been important to the economy and the advanced flexible materials (AFM) industry now employs approximately 24,000 people across 450 businesses in the region.

It also accounts for around £2.5bn of the North West economy, with a high amount (70%) of this contribution focused on exports.

Within the automotive industry, the number of road vehicles exported from the North West were up 5% in 2012 to over £1.8b from a host of manufacturers based in the region, including Jaguar Land Rover, Vauxhall and Bentley Motors.

UKTI North West’s Latin America advisor and the mission’s leader, Paul Eadie MBE, commented: “Brazil is simply too big a market to ignore.

“Of the four countries in the BRIC economy, it is the closest to the UK economically and politically and has recently overtaken the UK in size of GDP.

“Taking part in a market visit means accessing support from expert staff with business experience in the market, as well as briefing, receptions, and assistance before and after the visits.

“In addition companies can meet valuable potential customers via the Overseas Market Introduction Service (OMIS). I would encourage anyone in these sectors who is considering Brazil as a future trading partner to apply now while places are still available.”

Brazil has now overtaken the UK as the sixth largest economy in the world, and offers a wide range of opportunities for all kinds of British exporters.

The Tecnotextile event will exhibit new technologies for the textile sector and offer the chance for firms meet experts and potential business partners, while the Automec event will allow UK exporters to investigate new products and technologies in the automotive industry.

In addition to the two trade shows, firms will be able to arrange meetings and will receive support from the UKTI team in Sao Paulo, as well as opportunities to network and go to market briefings.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .