Opportunities in the Brazilian defense market

Even taking into consideration the modest level of resources dedicated to defense acquisitions, Brazil offers some good business opportunities. Those foreign defense industries that are keen enough to perceive them and understand the very specific and extremely complex context in which they are generated may get good results.
Acquisition programs for defense equipment tend to go along at a much slower pace than what is normal in some other parts of the world. To do business with the Brazilian Armed Forces, one must be prepared for long and much disputed campaigns. Having a local office or a good and trusted local representative, with extensive contacts and a clean record, is very helpful. Indeed, most of the time this could be considered as a “sine qua non” condition. I hope S&D’s publishers do not get upset (after all, it is for a good cause) if the author borrows for use here the phrase used in the magazine’s own advertisements abroad, slightly changing it from “Insiders know better!” to “Locals know better!”. In all probability, this is truer in Brazil than anywhere else. Of course, in common with practically all other countries in the world, foreign companies must also engage the full support of their countries’ ambassadors, defense attachés and chambers of commerce.
One of the keys to the Brazilian defense market is to be on the alert even when nothing seems to be happening, taking advantage of this “dead” time to act in such way as to be in a better position than other competitors when the wheels start rolling. A good example of that is the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) recently signed by EADS with Imbel, a company owned by the Brazilian Army and which produces explosives, communications equipment, etc. We will go deeper into this specific MoU further on, when covering the needs of the Army. It was a brilliant move on the part of EADS. It cost nothing, and can bring important returns.

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