These are the words of Brazil’s trade commissioner to Canada, Wanja Compos da Nòbrega, as it appears in the February 2011 edition of Report on Business. She continues by saying “Never think about Brazil in short terms, but as a lifelong partner.”

But what makes Brazil so attractive to business people and investors, and how can Canada capitalize on this opportunity?

As we discussed in an earlier blog, “Brazil: Country of the Future”, Brazil is on the verge of becoming the world’s fifth largest economy (overtaking France and England), and has become an oasis in the desert that is the global economic recession. Brazil economy grew at a rate of approximately 7% in 2010, and in recent years, Brazil moved more than 20 million citizens from the lower class to the middle class.

Canada only ranks 11th among international investors in Brazil, but growing collaborations in science and technology as well as agriculture and healthcare will help lead to an expansion of external trade between the two countries.

In that same Report on Business article, Ted Hewitt, Vice President of Research and International Relations at the University of Western Ontario’s London Campus, tells us that if Canadians don’t act now, they may “miss the tide”. “Canadian universities, companies and institutions had better think carefully if they want to be at the beginning or if they are going to try and elbow in two or three years from now.”