Ghilissen, Verraes LLP

Profile

Brazil is famous for its football, for its carnivals and for the Amazon. But Brazil is much more. It is an enormous and immensely varied country. In fact, Brazil is the ninth largest economy in the world. With over 175 million people, Brazil offers a substantial market for US and EU exporters.

Brazil is a member of the Mercado Comum do Sul, Mercosul , alond with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, Bolivia and Chile, which plays an important role in inter-regional trade and investments within a free trade area, as well as a common external tariff. They form the world's second largest customs union after the European Union.

And, because the overall relations between NAFTA and the European Community are strong, business between these countries is vibrant and expanding. Brazil presents considerable export opportunities, particularly in areas such as energy generation, construction, safety and security equipment, and luxury fashion and home products.

To approach the Brazilian market, companies need to commit resources and assume new risks that are necessary to a sustained participation in the market. They need to design entry strategies that will make them competitive in the emerging economy of today and tomorrow.

Without an entry strategy for a product or target market, a company has only a "sales" approach to foreign markets. At Ghilissen, Verraes LLP, we address the need for managers to design and execute international market entry strategies that aim to achieve a continuing, profitable, sustainable presence in the Brazilian market.

We can handle directly, through our own organization, the entry phases to the Brazilian market: researching the market, finding investors and partners, managing the contact with locals authorities, banks and administrations, running the marketing and sales operations, and setting up the logistics.

We bring together a team of international lawyers and business executives with in-depth knowledge of market entry situations. Many of the team previously held positions with international corporations, government agencies and in private practice.

Michael Ghilissen, general partner.