Feed Back on FIFA World Cup 2014 and Rio Olympics 2016 Business Mission
The ABCC in conjunction with the Australia-Latin America Business Council , AISES (Australian International Sporting Events Secretariat) and Austrade has conducted a business mission to Brazil in November 2010 to explore opportunities for Australian companies with the World Cup 2014 and the Olympic Games 2016 in Brazil.
Under the auspices of the Council on Australia Latin America Relations (COALAR), the mission included visits to major cities as Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo Brasilia and Belo Horizonte and participation at Soccerex Global Convention, the global leader for the business of football.
The group was composed of companies covering sectors of architecture and engineering, event management, water treatment, education and training, athlete performance measurement devices and risk management who met up with key representatives within CBF, Rio’s Olympic Committee, Federal and State Governments, Councils and companies involved in the infrastructure processes.
The result of the visit was far more fruitful than envisaged. Usually, a first trip to Brazil by companies that have not been there or done business with Brazil before has the objective to build awareness of the opportunities and educate them about the potential market, economic stability and how to do business with Brazilians. However, this visit has gone further than that and a number of the delegate companies are already entering into contracts and partnerships, which shows that Brazil is looking for foreign expertise and inward investment to be able to conduct these two events successfully. It also witnesses the fact that Australia is regarded as an important contributor in the international arena by Brazilians.
The Brazilian government representatives and business community were extremely receptive of the group and highly impressed with the offerings. With SBS journalist and COALAR director Craig Foster as the mission advisor, due to his football background and vast media experience, the delegates gained the respect and attention of the Brazilian counterparts through the mutual love of football. As well as creating important business links, the delegation was able to consolidate relationships which are highly important to the countries and will open doors to further business interaction.
The FIFA World Cup 2014 and the Rio Olympics 2016 present huge opportunities for Australian companies as there is a need to remodel stadiums and build new high standard venues. The infrastructure required is not only directed to sporting venues, but also towards improvement of public transport, airports, hotels and temporary accommodation. Opportunities lie also in areas of training of staff and managing the volunteers that will assist in both events. In summary, the opportunities cover a diverse area from supply of stadiums with grass to building major new structures, as well as offering logistic and transport solutions, urban planning, green energy, waste and management etc.
The ABCC is planning on conducting a second mission this year to consolidate the objectives of the first visit and attract other companies that were not able to join us the first time.
For further information, contact the ABCC secretariat on: abcc@australiabrazil.com.au
Cristina Talacko
President – Australia Brazil Chamber of Commerce
Briefing by Olympic Committee in Rio:
Ronaldo Veirano (Honorary Consul of Australia in Rio and Senior Partner,
Veirano Advogados), Roger Frankel (Honorary Consul of Brazil in Victoria),
Cristina Talacko (ABCC President, COALAR director), Pedro Nascimento (Rio
Coucil), Ricardo Cardoso (Olympic Committee Rio 2016), Craig Foster (AISES
mission advisor, COALAR director)
Zico and Craig Foster at Zico's Football Center, Rio
Briefing by Dr Marcelo de Andrade (Pro-Natural Foundation) at Rio
de Janeiro Chamber of Commerce
Meetings with Brazilian Ministry for External Affairs (Brasilia)
Cocktail at Australian Embassy in Brasilia with His Excellency
Ambassador Neil Mules, Paulo Araujo ( President, Brasilia's Federation of
Football), Craig Foster and Weber Magalhães (Vice-President, CBF)
Seminar and networking session at Mello Campos Attorneys (Belo
Horizonte)
Meeting and interviews at Sao Paulo Football Federation (Sao
Paulo)
Business Round Table at Sao Paulo Chamber of Commerce (Sao Paulo)
International Chambers of Commerce Beach Football Tournament - 10th December
2010 Maroubra Beach
Once again the ABCC took part at the International Chambers of Commerce
Football Tournament with a top class team coming 3rd.
