City Ville Guide

1 - Political Status

Brazil is a Federal Republic with a multipartite regime.
The Congress has two Assemblies : the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.
The country is divided into 23 states, a federal district and three territories.
This is all amalgamated into 5 regions.

The President, who is elected to a four year term of office, is M Fernando Cardoso.
The Vice President is M Marco Antonio de Oliveira Maciel.

The Senate is composed of 81 members (3 per state) elected for 8 years, a third or two thirds of whom are renewed every 4 years.
The Chamber of Deputies is made up of 506 members elected for a four year term of office by general election.

Each of the 27 states has its own government.
It is responsable for education, justice and wide economic issues.
The members are in office for a four year, non renewable period.
The towns in Brazil are managed by 4,972 Mayors, elected by general election.

HISTORICAL OUTLINE

Brazil was discovered by the Portuguese navigator Pedro Alvares Cabral in 1500.
In 1822 Brazil became a sovereign state, from 1500 to 1822 it had been a Portuguese colony.
In 1889 Pedro II, son of Pedro I, proclaimed himself Emperor, under the name of John VI.
He was overthrown in a military uprising, and a Republic was created, the United States of Brazil.
Since then many events have disrupted the country and the political world has seen some difficult situations in relation to the organization of the constitution (dictatorships under Vargas from 1930 to 1945).
1956-1960 A social democratic President was elected, Juscelino Kubitscheck and his Vice President Joao Gaulart.
1946-1964 The Marshal Dutra was President.
1961-1963 An attempt to transform the presidential republic into a parliamentary republic.
1964 On 31st March a coup put the army in power.
1967 A new constitution was set up.
1968 The constitution was suspended.
1970 Era of big projects, like the Transamazonian.
1974 General Ernesto Geisel set up a government.
1978-85 15th October 78 General Figueiredo was elected President.
1989 17th December 89, M Fernando Color was elected President.
1992 M. Itamar Franco became President.
1995-1997 M Fernando Henrique Cardoso was elected for a 4 year term of office on 31st October 94.
2 - Geographical situation

Brazil is part of Latin America. It covers 8,511,968 square kilometers, nearly half (48%) of the South American continent. It is about 16 times the size of France.
It is made up of the Amazonian plain, the tropical zone of the sierras, internal plateaus and south-eastern Brazil.

In the north of the country there is the enormous Amazon bassin.
The surrounding plain stretches for about 4 million square kilometers with a central plateau rising in the south of the great river.

The highest summit in Brazil is the Pico da Nibla with an altitude of 3,014 m, it is situated in the north near the Venezuelan border.

The water from the Rio Negro and the Rio Solimoes meet and form the Amazon, which is 6577 kms long, and has the biggest volume of water after the Nile in Egypt.

The Mavilhanas is the biggest archipelego in the world, 90 kms long and 15 kms wide, with 350,018 inhabitants. It is made up of 400 islands, lakes, rivers and canals (called igapos and igarapes).

Brazil is the fifth biggest country in the world, after the URSS, Canada, China and the USA. It has shared borders with all the countries in South America, except for Ecuador and Chile.

 
3 - Economy

Brazil today is rated the eighth economy in the world.

Main economic indicators

	1997	1998	1999	2000
economic growth (%)	3.6	-0.1	0.5	4.0
inflation (%)	5.2	1.7	8.4	6.2
public balance/GDP (%)	-6.2	-7.7	-9.4	-5.5
unemployment (%)	5.7	7.6	na	na
exports (billions $)	53.0	51.1	47.7	55.7
imports (billions $)	61.3	57.7	48.9	51.7
balance of trade (billions $)	-8.4	-6.6	-1.2	3.9
current balance (billions $)	-33.4	-33.6	-27.7	-24.6
external debt (billions $)	223.2	258.7	249.3	260.2

The internal economic results are better than foreseen after the monetary crisis in January 1999 : inflationary pressure was contained, the country did not sink into recession, in fact the economy showed signs of revival (the growth forecast for the GDP in 2000 is +4%) and the budgetary objectives have been adhered to.
In spite of the devaluation of the Real, Brazil recorded a slight growth and the fact that the capacity of the agricultural sector has been able to substitute for the declining industrial sector partially explains this result, the solidity of the financial system has equally been determining.

The potential of the internal market continues to attract foreign investors and the country has the advantage of being backed by the international financial community.
After the energy sector, the mines and telecommunications, it is the turn of the banks to be privatized.
Rio de Janeiro is benefiting most from the privatizations.
The foreign investment which accompanies the privatizing contributes to the revival of the economy.

Evolution of direct foreign investment (in millions of dollars) :

1991 : 89 ...........1992 : 1 924 ........ 1993 : 801 ........ 1994 : 2 035 ......... 1995 : 3 475 .......... 1996 : 9 123
1997 : 18 601 .......... 1998 : 22 500

The debt ratio is reaching excessive levels (the debt represents 400% of the profits from exports and nearly two thirds of these profits are absorbed by it).
The enormity of the liquidation of the debt means that the need for external financing remains very great. In 1999 the IDB loaned Brazil 250 million dollars to improve the poorest districts in the big towns.

Importations

A little over 10 years ago Brazilian trade was protected by extremely high customs duties.
When he was elected, President Fernando Collor started opening up the borders.
Customs duties dropped and the Brazilian automobile production rose to 1,500,000 vehicles in 1994. Most Brazilian towns opened shops offering imported goods.

Ricardo Carneiro, a Brazilian economist, affirms that the choice to import is within the line of neo-liberal enterpreneurial policy in the major Latin-American countries, and that the choice is to be competitive or disappear.

From 1995 on, the government of President Fernando Henrique Cardos determined to modernize and facilitate the system of public service concessions.
Among other things the distinction between Brazilian companies with foreign capital and Brazilian companies with national capital was withdrawn.
Very few foreign capital restrictions still exist (nuclear energy, commercial airlines, the press, television and radio stations).

Foreign investments play a considerable role in strengthening the cycle of expansion.
1.1 million people are employed by the 1,200 foreign companies that are set up in Brazil.

Mercosul, Mercosur and Mercosud are the three names given to the South American economic and commercial grouping which reunites Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil.
It was set up to strengthen the economies and encourage their growth.
Mercosur opens up a large export market for Brazil, Brazil alone earns 45% of the Latin American GDPand 31% of Argentina's exports go to Brazil.
The economic crisis has caused a considerable slowing down of the integration process, commercial barriers and other conflicts have emerged.
Market competitivity has grown spectacularly.
But these problems should not overshadow the achievements : trade expanded from 5 billion dollars in 1990 to 20 billion in 1997.

Brazil still has to find a social and economic balance.
Reforms of the social and taxation systems are necessary.
The austerity measures which were taken at the beginning of 1999 to avoid runaway inflation were painful, but financial stability was secured and without that stability there is no way that progress could be made socially and inequalities reduced.

Unfortunately the social situation remains very preoccupying, (unemployment is on average around 8% but in the San Paolo area reaches 18%, and the social security system is nearly non-existent for the unemployed) the enormous dispartities between the rich and poor have created a rapid rise in the rate of violence, both in the large towns undermined by drug dealing and in certain areas of the countryside where the claims of the landless peasants are brutally suppressed.
On top of that it is well known that the police force is corrupt.

4 - Agriculture

The agricultural sector represents about 11% of the GNP (25% of the working population).
It is an important activity, prime materials make up more than half of the country's exports.
Brazil exploits nearly 366,000 square kilometers of arable land (twice as much as France).
The 9% growth registered by the agricultural sector in 1999 goes a long way to explain why Brazil did not suffer from a recession.

The main crops are maize (32.178 million tons in 1999), sugar cane (333.314 million tons -the leading world production) and rice (11.779 million tons). 400,000 people are directly employed in orange growing (19.399 million tons) and fruit juice production.

Soya (2nd biggest producing country in the world) and coffee are essential crops for the country, grown for primarily for export. Brazil is the leading coffee producing country, growing a third of the world production.

Stock raising in Brazil is done on a bigger scale than in France (2.7 times more per capita).
In 1999, there were 163.47 million head of cattle and exports are rapidly increasing with the 'mad cow' crisis in Europe.

As for forestry, the biggest tropical forest in the world yielded nearly 198 million cubic meters of timber in 1998.

 5 - Industry

Brazil has a wealth of natural resources with a diversified related economy.
The currently expanding sectors are telecommunications, energy (petrol, gas and electricity), computer sciences, foodstuffs, the ports and the iron and steel processing industries.

Mining (per millions of tons, gold and silver per ton, diamonds per thousands of carats)

Production	1997	1998	1999
silver	135	140	133
gold	54	59	50
bauxite	11,50	11,50	11,50
coal	5,68	5,51	5,51
diamonds	300	500	500
petrol	43,2	49,9	56,8
phosphates	3,85	4,00	5,00
zinc	0,14	1,44	1,42

The attribution of new licences for petrol exploitation attracted numerous candidates, both local (Petrobras) and foreign (Shell, Exxon, Texaco).

Brazilian industry cannot be compared to one of an under-developed country, there are important manufacturing sectors such as transport and machinery, which represent 22% of the industrial added value.

Brazil is the 9th biggest car manufacturer in the world.
The monetary devaluation has added to the competivity of the production, several important companies have announced their decision to increase their production in Brazil : Fiat, Peugeot, Volkswagen, Renault and Nissan.

The national aeronautical construction company Embraer registered a record turnover in 1999, due largely to the devaluation, and so did the major breweries (making Brazil now the 3rd biggest beer producing country).

6 - Other sectors

The service sector represents 62% of the GNP, and employs nearly 50% of the working population.

High tech services are developing :
Telecom Italia for example invested 800 million dollars in Internet in June 2000. Brazil is one the most developed countries in the world in on-line banking, nearly 4.5 million bank accounts are managed via Internet. Since the middle of 1999 the number of sites has exploded.
Publicity investment done via Brazilian portals represent 6% of the advertising market, a total of 280 million dollars for the first 6 months of the year 2000.

Privatization is the reason for the investment frenzy.
In the telecommunication sector investments should reach nearly 42 billion dollars over the next four years.
This income will finance the installation of 21.8 million fixed connections, 30.5 million mobile connections and 690,000 telephone booths.

A major problem in the domain of high tech is smuggling and fraud (concerning nearly 90% of the mobile phones on the market).

Large scale distribution in Brazil is making up for lost time and quickly catching up with European and North American markets.
The centre of wealth and consumption is within the triangle of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte.

Shopping centres have an ever increasing success : there are about 506 spread over the country, used by 62 million shoppers each month

Brazil is the third biggest market in the domain of franchising, coming after the USA and Japan. 200,000 people are employed in franchising and the turnover is rapidly expanding. 75% of the market is fast food, perfume shops and clothing.

Several hundred thousand people live off recycling, which is a dynamic sector in Brazil.
Research in this sector is encouraged and numerous experiments are perpetuated.

7 - Population

There are approximately 165,870,000 inhabitants over a surface of 8,511,965 square kilometers, making a density of 17 persons per square kilometer.

The working population is estimated to be 74 million.
Unskilled workers are numerous and it is usually necessary to train employees. In certain regions there is a shortage of managerial and technical staff.

Population breakdown :
0 - 14 years 30.14%
15 - 64 years 65.01%
65 years and over 4.85%
Life expectancy : 67 years

The minimum legal salary is currently 136 BRL per month.
Only 20% of the population can afford goods and services.
1% of the population are wealthy, 9% are middle class, the other 90% of the population earn less than 1,700 dollars a month per household.

80% of Brazilians are urban dwellers.
The working population is mainly concentrated in the biggest towns, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, and can be divided into the following categories :
Mulattos 22% - Portuguese 15% - Italians 11% - Spanish 10% - Europeans 17% - Halfcastes 12% -
Africans 11% - Japanese 1%.

Level of developement (latest available statistics)

demographical growth 1997 - 2015 (%) .......................+1.1
child mortality (%) ........................................................... 34
energy consumption per capita TOE ........................... 1.01
inhabitants without drinkable water (% pop.) ............. 24
inhabitants without sanitary installations (% pop.) ... 30
N° of doctors per 1 000 inhabitants ............................... 1.4
telephone lines per 1 000 inhabitants ........................... 107
mobile phones per 1 000 inhabitants .............................. 28
private cars per 1 000 inhabitants ................................... 74
N° of computers per 1 000 inhabitants .......................... 26.3
adult illiteracy rate (%) ..................................................... 16
secondary schooling /age category (%) ....................... 45
university graduates /age category (%) ........................ 12
(source UN)

There are native reserves in Brazil. They cover an area of 946,450 sq. kms.
They are mostly to be found in the north, with others in the north-east, the central west, the south and the south-east of the country.
Some natives still live in isolation.
8 - Language

The official language is Portuguese.
It is the inheritance of the colonial period.

Brazilians often speak English, Spanish and French and sometimes Italian or German.
The native population is divided into 215 ethnic groups speaking some 170 different languages, e.g. Nambik Wara, Munduruku, Kayapo, Guarini, Guajajara, Tukano, Satere, Maue.

9 - Religion

There are several religious affiliations, but the main ones are Roman Catholic and Protestant. 90% of the population are Catholics and 7% are Protestant.

10 - Weights, measures and voltage

The metric system is in use.

Generally speaking the electrical current is 110/120 volts - 6 HZ, except in Brazilia, where it is 220 volts.

Electric plugs are usually the American type (with flat prongs).

Take an electrical adapter with you, although most hotels are equipped with 110 volts.

11 - Money

The official currency is the Real (1 Real/R$, several Reais).
One real is divided into 100 centavos.
The exchange regulations : independent floating currency.

The best thing when visiting Brazil is to bring US dollars which you change little by little, with the omni-present inflation the value changes daily (over 500% inflation per year!).
It is advisable to keep aside an amount in foreign currency destined for the various airport taxes, which amount to the equivalent of 50 Francs for internal flights and 100 Francs for an international flight.

There are numerous exchange bureaus, particularly in the hotels.
Shops seldom accept payment by Master Card, Visa Card is more often accepted.

11 - Money

Guarapuava Guaratinguetá Irati Itaitubá João Pessoa Joinville Juazeiro Juazeiro do NorteLagoa de Jacarepagua Lavras Londrina
Macapá Maceió Manaus Maraba Marília Montes Claros Mossoró Natal
Palmas Peixe Pelotas Pirassununga Poços de Caldas Ponta Porã Porto Alegre Porto Seguro
Porto Velho Praiado Rosa Presidente Prudente
Recife Ribeirão Preto Rio Branco Rio de Janeiro
Salvador Santa Maria Santarém Santos São José do Rio Preto São José dos Campos
São Luís São Paulo Sorocaba
Tabatinga Teresina Torres Três Logoas Tucuruí
Uberaba Vilhena Vitória.

Brazilia
which is the capital of Brazil since 21st April 1960, and its suburbs has a population of one million seven hundred thousand inhabitants.

Rio de Janeiro
relinquished its title of capital to Brazilia, but remains the second biggest and splendid town of Brazil with its 6 million inhabitants.
Rio continues to be the capital of the legendary Brazil of beaches, carnival, football and samba, and is its cultural centre, its brand image, its synthesis, its sounding box.

The town oscillates between luxury and misery, the population is easy going and full of the joy of living.

Over the last 10 years the GDP of the State of Rio has quadrupled, the average salary has tripled, consumption has boomed. 59% of the population are middle class.

The mayor, Luiz Paulo Condo, who is an urban architect, has made it safe and pleasant for the population to be out on the streets again by cleaning up the centre of the old town and the public squares, and by improving the lighting on the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema.
The rebirth of the town is attracting crowds of investors.
Since a few years, thanks to the dynamism of the new administration, Rio can brag of really having one of the most beautiful sea fronts in the world.
Promenades have been re-designed for the comfort of pedestrians and an amazing cycle lane goes all the way around the beaches, from Leblon to Flamengo, passing via Ipanema, Copacabana, Botafogo and up to the Santos Dumont airport.
During the day the beaches are everybody's meeting place, with no distinction of age or class. At night the beaches are lit and people play volleyball or football.
(see page Tourism - Carnival)

Sao Paulo
Is the financial centre of Brazil and boasts 10 million inhabitants. It is the privileged target of private investors (43% of 1999's industrial investment ).
It is Brazil's locomotive, the third biggest city in the world, it is a town of superlatives, here everything is bigger than anywhere else, the agglomeration of Sao Paulo has a higher population than the whole of Chile! Here, people work more, there is more building going on and more pollution !
This impossible megapolis is also the most cosmopolitan agglomeration in Latin America, the town is home to 600,000 Japanese, a million Italians, as many Spanish, 100,000 Germans.
The best restaurants in Latin America are to be found here.

Salvador de Bahia
is the capital of the State of Bahia.
It is a town with a strong African influence and 2.3 million inhabitants.

Belo Horizonte
Is the third highest populated town in Brazil with 3 million inhabitants.
It has succeeded in becoming an important economic centre while at the same time offering an exceptional quality of life and a wide range of cultural activities.

It is a large town with high-rise buildings which are little by little taking the place of colonial style houses. Its thirty parks keep it a very attractive place to live, two million trees brush their leaves against the frieze and sculptures of palaces designed in a pure neo-classical style.

Curitiba i
Is a town where agriculture and stock breeding are rapidly expanding.

Recife
Is a port, called the Brazilian Venice.

Porto Alegre
Is the biggest town in southern Brazil and also a very important port.

The Main Ports :

Brazil has 35 well-equipped ports, amongst which are Santos, Fortaleza, Belem, Manaus, Salvador, Porto-Alegre and Rio de Janeiro.

13 - Climate

Brazil is an immense country and the climatic variations are such that it is impossible to be precise on an ideal period for a visit.
The seasons are inversed with those of the USA and Europe.
About 80% of the country is situated in a tropical zone.

Amazonia is a hot, humid and rainy region. In the centre of the forest it is rare to have a humidity level under 100%. Rain falls at all times of the day, storms usually break out in the early afternoon.
Rain is more frequent as you approach the north coast (Santarem, Belem).
There are however periods when the rain is less frequent, June to October is the 'dry season'. In the north of Amazonia above the equator, the 'dry' periods are inversed and are from November to February.

At Salvador de Bahia, during the summer (from December to March), the temperatures are high, it is sometimes rather heavy and short rainbursts are quite frequent. From April to August these rains are longer and heavier. September to mid-December is a good period with a lot of sunny days.
The temperature of the sea is approx. 25 - 26° from July to November and 28° from January to April.

The climate is less stable in the centre of the north-east : from May to November the temperatures go over 38° and there are often catastrophic floodings after the extremely heavy rains which take place after long dry periods.

In Rio during the southern winter (from June to September) the temperatures are pleasant varying between 23 and 27°.
The temperature of the sea remains cool. From December to March, the local summer, it is very hot and heavy and it is also the rainy season.
There are however very nice sunny periods throughout the day, the rain nearly always falls towards the end of the afternoon.
The sea is never very warm though.

On the Minas Gerais plateau, and further north (Brazilia) it is very hot and dry from May to September.
In winter the temperatures are pleasant but cool and there can be an icy wind.

Sao Paulo is at an altitude and far from the coast.
The temperatures are pleasant all the year round even if it is a bit cooler in winter.
The town is unfortunately considered to be the most polluted in the world, the sky is often clouded over. There are heavy rains from the end of November to mid-March.

In the south of Brazil, Porto Alegre has nearly a Mediterranean climate with mild winters (a bit too cold to swim ) and hot summers with cool evenings.

From July to August it snows on the mountains of the Rio Grande do Dul.

Insects

There are snakes and scorpions in the south-east of the country, with lots of pernilongos and borachudos. There are a lot of mosquitoes in the towns, which are especially active after sundown.
In Amazonia there are flies, spiders and ants ... as well as :

- over 1,500 species of birds
- about a hundred species of turtles and tortoises
- over 110 species of lizards
- about 220 species of snakes
- and over 1,500 species of fresh water fish

A few examples of Brazilian animals :
armadillos, pumas, jaguars, crocodiles, piranhas.
More than 55,000 plants and flowers have been listed as belonging to Brazilian flora.

Working in Brazil :

Before leaving. It is advisable to learn or improve your level of Portuguese.

Entry formalities. You can enter Brazil with only a passport and a tourist visa, there are no other particular formalities to be completed if you are staying less than three months. You can renew this visa once.

But if you are going to prospect or study the market it would be better to apply for a work visa before going. This will make it easier for you to deal with local companies. When you negotiate a contract you will not have to ask for a visa and will gain time.

If you should find a job with a local company your employer will deal with all the administrative formalities concerning your stay and get a resident's permit from the authorities which will allow you to work locally.

If you are employed by a French or international company you don't have to worry about the administrative formalities, usually the administrative services deal with all the formalities concerning the expatriate staff.
If you should be the only representative of your company in the country (commercial or liaising agent etc...), then you will have to deal with all the formalities yourself.

Before leaving France, remember to get certain administrative papers which could be necessary once you are in Brazil :
- a medical certificate (from your medical centre)
- a copy of your police record
- a copy of your birth certificate
- your family record book or a certified copy.

Preparing for your departure and looking for a job.

You could start looking for information by writing to French associations which are set up in Brazil, to trade commissions, to the commercial services of Brazilian banks in France or French banks in Brazil.

Most of the French consulates abroad have a service dealing with jobs and training and can put you in touch with local companies wishing to engage French personnel. (see in our Practical Guide for the Expatriate).

The French-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce in Sao Paulo also offers information about the job market and the most dynamic sectors of the economy. They also publish 'Flash', which is a bulletin printed for French companies and Brazilian members. You could publish a job application in it.

The Trade Commission in Rio de Janeiro or the CFCE in Paris can give you a list of French companies established in Brazil.

Local employment agencies have job offers, but the level of qualifications seldom corresponds to expatriate needs (see a listing in 'Useful Addresses').

Interim bureaus can often give you information and contacts that could be useful.

You can find all the documentation you need about the country at the Brazilian Embassy in Paris in the cultural service.

You can also take more direct steps and make a personal appointment with the Latin American Chamber of Commerce to complete your information and to obtain professional advice.

We advise you to avoid companies specializing in immigration.

While you are looking for information you could also contact companies directly and send your application proposing your services.

In several countries the job market is highly protected, problems of unemployment and economic recession in the country discourage a policy of employing immigrants. Local authorities oblige companies to widely diffuse their job offers within the country before looking abroad. The company is obliged to pass its job offer in the local employment agencies and take all the necessary steps to find someone locally for the post. Only if there is no one corresponding to the profile can the company accept a foreign candidate.

Where to look for job offers :

In the French press (Le Monde, Le France Soir, Figaro, Moniteur du Batiment, Expat magazine..) for French companies sending people abroad.

In the local press (O GLOBO daily 266,000 copies, Rua Irineu Marinho, n° 35 Rio de Janeiro, and A FOLHA DE SAO PAULO daily 378,000 copies, Rua Barao de Limeira, 425 Sao Paulo).

Recruiting and our advice.

Your cv must be clearly set out and detailled and accompanied by a handwritten covering letter. The curriculum vitae is different in Brazil : it must be very detailled, particularly concerning schooling and training, the recruitment officer wants all the information about your studies (primary onwards) as well as your past professional history - all your activities including training courses, your sport and cultural activities and interests. The pages should be typed and you should send copies of your diplomas, reports from training courses etc.

If you get an interview be well dressed and punctual.

The atmosphere is usually fairly relaxed and even friendly.

Be very careful not to appear pretentious about your know-how and don't exaggerate your professional competence. Stress rather your real competence, your ease of adaption, your mobility, your ability to work in a team and your willingness to bring in the experience you have gained. It never hurts to be modest and may put you on good terms with your interviewer.

Working conditions.

The legal working time is 48 hours a week, with similar hours to Europe.
Working relations tend to be pleasant.

Wages :

Local salaries are very low, but are negociable. The minimum monthly salary is the lowest of all the Latin American countries. Basic living needs cost more in Brazil than a minimum salary, the legal minimum for a worker is 136 reais per month (540 FF). An executive earns about 10,000 reais per month.
8% of the monthly wage is retained for a special account, the F.G.T.S. (a guarantee fund relating to the length of service in the company).

Dismissal :

The law is quite flexible and dismissal can happen at any time. When a company lays off an employee he can apply for compensation in the form of a reimbursement of his F.G.T.S. If there has been a case of misconduct there is a 30 day notice. The employer has to pay a supplementary compensation equivalent to 40% of the total F.G.T.S. There is a special jurisdiction at the conciliation board.

Working and investing in Brazil :

Foreign investors who wish to create a company dealing with commercial activities, or in the sectors of foodstuffs, industry, computor science and various other activities can do so with no problem.

Brazilian law encourages the creation of limited companies (LTDA), (similar to Ltd in UK or SA or SARL in France). If you want to work for the administration or create a company you are not obliged to be or to hire a Brazilian, it is sufficient to be a resident.

The French-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and the Trade Commission in Sao Paulo have combined to create a service to help small and medium size companies to study the Brazilian market. This service does marketing studies for the companies, offers a selection of operators, on-site missions and a follow up of 3 to 6 months.

Information on steps to follow and the necessary documents can be delivered by the authorities of the Brazilian Federal Police.

There is no legal minimum investment for a foreign investor, however if you do invest or are head of a company you will need about a million francs to get your resident's status.

Any investor leaving Brazil, whatever the reason, can repatriate his funds (the profits made).

NB Foreign capital must be registered with an organisme called FIRCE which is linked to the central bank of Brazil. No bank credit is given to small projects.

Some advice :

If you are setting up your own company in Brazil (which is a huge market, bureaucratically complex), here is some advice :
-it is very important to do a good market study before you leave for Brazil
-take all possible precautions at the legal level
-be very careful choosing your local partner
-work legislation in Brazil is fairly similar to Europe's
-the building works for your company could take from 6 months to 2 years from the date of the purchase of the land
-you must choose your location very carefully, taking into account distances, transport costs and delivery delays. Fiscal advantages are offered by some municipalities.
-you will have less administrative hassle if you set up your company in a free trade zone, but the costs are higher and the building time is longer
-to minimalize the problems of starting up a company (procedure, fiscal policies etc) it is better to create a limited company than to open a branch
-if you need financing, don't hope to find it in Brazil, the rates are prohibitive (between 20 and 25% and from 40 to 50% for personal bank loans!). If you are setting up a company you will need enough funds to last out for at least a year.
-the bureaucracy is so complex that a new profession has been created : the despachante, who is an intermediary who takes charge of all the administrative formalities for a company. Even if it seems an extra charge, this is an indispensable service.
-the market is very competitive, so use modern technologies.
16 - Formalities to be completed

Non-professional travelling

French nationals need a visa.
In order to get one you will need :
a passport valid for more than 6 months, a return ticket or a ticket with a continuation to another country (which can be replaced by a certificate from the travel agent), a filled in and signed visa form which you get from the consulate, an identity photo. The visa is not free and allows you to stay in the country for 90 days. You can get it extended once you are in the country, the local authorities will decide whether or not the extension can be accorded, the demand has to be made 15 days before the first visa expires.

A professional trip

You need a visa.
If it is a business trip, a tourist visa is sufficient.
If you are going for a temporary job with a Brazilian company you will need a temporary work visa. This visa is accorded for a 2 year maximum stay, and can eventually be renewed for the same amount of time.
An employee of a foreign company who is detached to a branch of his firm in Brazil must absolutely have a permanent work permit. His post must appear in the statutes of the Brazilian company.
A temporary work permit can be changed into a permanent work permit, the demand must be made to the Justice Ministry in Brazil.
17 - Health

Health and welfare :

All the salaried workers in Brazil are covered by the Brazilian social security system (INSS).
This covers treatment in the public hospitals. These are not very good, under-equipped and under-staffed. It is therefore highly advisable to subscribe to a private health and welfare insurance cover 'plano de saude', which, against a monthly payment of about 1,500 FF per family, gives a right to an excellent private system.
There is a risk of malaria in the north-west of the country. There is less risk along the Amazone, but high risk in mining and agricultural regions.

Vaccinations :

None are obligatory for a visit to Brazil, but it is recommended to be vaccinated against yellow fever and smallpox, especially if you are going to certain zones like the Mato-Grosso. (Remember that the smallpox vaccine is only valid for three years).
Adults should have the usual vaccines done (tetanos, polio), and children should get shots against measles. An anti-rabies vaccine is advisable if you are staying for a while.
All vaccinations should appear in an international certificate booklet (on sale in bookshops or travel agencies). If they were done by a doctor, his name, the municipality in which he works and his inscription number in the Order (with the code of the department) should be marked against the vaccination certificate.