IDB President Hails Brazil’s Digital Advances as Key to Harnessing Nearshoring Potential

THE IDB PRESENTED THREE STUDIES ON BRAZIL’S DIGITALIZATION PROGRESS AND ITS POTENTIAL IMPACT ON ECONOMIC GROWTH.

 

Brazil’s great strides in digitalization in recent decades have positioned it well to bolster its exports and participation in global trade. This was the message shared by Mauricio Claver-Carone, President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), in his opening address at the Brasil Investment Forum (BIF) 2022 on Tuesday.

The BIF is organized by the IDB, ApexBrasil (the country’s export agency), and the Brazilian government. Now in its fifth iteration, the event has become the largest private investment forum in Latin America and the Caribbean. It is being held in São Paulo on June 14 and 15th and highlights opportunities in the Brazilian economy, such as its advances in digitalization.

“The IDB has been working tirelessly to boost Brazil’s exports, improve its participation in global trade, all while creating more jobs and inclusion by leveraging its digital readiness,” said President Claver-Carone. “We offer our technical and financing capacity to the public and private sectors to transform Brazil’s potential into opportunities,” he added.

Recent IDB-sponsored studies show that Brazil leads Latin America and the Caribbean in hiring via LinkedIn and in number of fintech companies. The country also holds $9.5 billion in broadband investment potential, according to an analysis performed by the IDB with Anatel, Brazil’s telecommunications authority.

Shaping policies that accelerate digital transformation is one of the strategic pillars of Vision 2025 and a driver of infrastructure growth, job creation and higher revenue.

Three specific digitalization achievements in Brazil

Recent IDB studies highlight Brazil’s good performance on digitalization:

• Brazil has had the highest rate of hiring via LinkedIn in the region since the start of the pandemic, and it also has the broadest technological skill penetration, according to the study LinkedIn in Latin America and the Caribbean: a rapid transformation of the labor market due to the pandemic.
• The third edition of the study Fintech in Latin America and the Caribbean: A well-established ecosystem for recovery, conducted by the IDB, IDB Invest, and the innovation company Finnovista, highlights the boom of the fintech industry in Latin America and the Caribbean, which grew 112% from 2018 to 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic drove digitalization processes and supercharged the uptake and maturation of digital finance. Brazil leads the region in number of fintech platforms (31% of the total), followed by Mexico (21%) and Colombia (11%).
• In the third study, under preparation, the IDB, IDB Invest and the National Telecommunications Agency of Brazil (Anatel) found that Brazil has potential for $9.5 billion in broadband Internet infrastructure investments. The report also estimates that expanding broadband penetration could trigger GDP growth of 2.4%.