Yesterday, June 7th, a trade and investment forum Brazil – Slovenia was held on the premises of the Brazilian Embassy in Ljubljana, where a large number of Slovenian and Brazilian companies and entrepreneurs, who already operate or wish to trade with both countries, including an economic institutions, gathered. Together with the Embassy of Brazil in Ljubljana, the event was organised by APEX Brazil, Embraer, SLOBRAZ, Slovenian Global Business Network (SGBN), SPIRIT Slovenija, and the Ministry of Economy, Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Slovenia.
In a full hall and with many participants via the online ZOOM platform, the forum brought together business, industry and political leaders from Brazil and Slovenia, who discussed business opportunities and cooperation in various sectors. Speakers from both sides presented the current economic and trade situation and presented the current business environment. The participants in Ljubljana also had the opportunity for discussions and networking.
Trade exchange between Slovenia and Brazil is very good. 2022 was a record year when bilateral trade reached more than 625 million USD. However, everyone agreed that there is still a lot of opportunities for increasing trade cooperation between the two countries.
At the Forum, after the opening welcome speech and the presentation of the current cooperation between the two countries, the Ambassador of Brazil to Slovenia, H.E. Eduardo Prisco, and the guest from the Ministry of Economy, Tourism and Sport, Mr Jernej Šalecl, an eminent presenters such as Dr Štefan Bogdan Barenboim Šalej, co-founder of SGBN and president emeritus of SLOBRAZ, who spoke about the current business climate in Brazil, Mr Pawel Skuteli who presented the innovative technological Brazilian company Embraer, Mr Guarani de Morais from the Brazilian investment agency ApexBrasil who presented investment opportunities in Brazil, Mr Zoran Stamatovski, MBA, from SPIRIT Slovenija who presented the reasons for Brazilian companies investing in Slovenia, and Mr Anže Skodlar from SKOZAR Legal & Venture who presented a e-book on investing in Slovenia. Participants were greeted by Mr. Matjaž Cokan, president of the Slovenia – Brazil Chamber of Commerce (SLOBRAZ) and current ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia in Brazil, H.E. Gorazd Renčelj.
In the panel on successful Slovenian business cases in Brazil, coordinated by Dr Štefan Bogdan Barenboim Šalej and Mr. Joao Henrique Bayao, representatives of the companies Xlab, Rompex, Arex, Trapview, and PharmaLinea shared their experiences. The conversation revolved around the reasons for entering the Brazilian market, the investment climate, regulations, export strategies and advices, along with the problems and advantages they have encountered in Brazil.
