Viana do Castelo, Portugal, 14 Nov – Brazil has a potential market of US$8 billion for Portuguese exports, a study issued in Viana do Castelo, northern Portugal revealed.

The study entitled, “Potential Export of Portuguese Products to Brazil” was presented during a business meeting, the first stage of a Brazilian trade mission visiting Portugal this week.

The study identified 120 Portuguese products, divided into 19 groups, with great competitiveness in the international market that could also be exported to Brazil.

These products currently represent 13.7 percent of total Portuguese exports (US$4.6 billion) and 11 percent of Brazilian imports (US$7.6 billion).

Portuguese exports to Brazil are currently focused on 18 products, which account for 83.3 percent of the total exported between 2004 and 2005, particularly olive oil, which accounts for 24 percent of the total.

Brazilian exports to Portugal are focused on 20 products, mainly crude oil, which totaled US$296.2 million in the period, or around 30 percent of the total.

The publishing of the study will be followed by business meetings with representatives of Portuguese chambers of commerce in Brazil and the Lima and Minho Valleys Business Council (Ceval).

The Brazilian business mission, which will also visit Porto and Lisbon, is made up of 80 representatives of the economic sectors of the states of Bahia, Ceará, Minas Gerais, Pará, Paraná, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul and São Paulo.

The study carried out the Foreign Trade Foundation of Brazil (Funcex) and was sponsored by the Council of Portuguese Chambers of Commerce in Brazil and by the Portuguese Agency for Foreign Trade and Investment (AICEP). (macauhub)