TAIPEI: A move by Brazil to extend its business visa validity for Taiwanese nationals is good for bilateral ties and expected to help Taiwanese exporters penetrate the Brazilian market, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said.
According to the MOEA, Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs notified its embassies and consulates on March 25 that the country had decided to extend the validity of business visas issued to Taiwanese citizens to three years from the previous 90 days.
The MOEA said the longer visa period will give more flexibility to Taiwanese companies hoping to do business in Brazil and showed Brazil’s determination to improve its investment environment and attract more foreign investors.
Brazil is the largest economy in South America and the seventh largest economy in the world and boasts strong domestic consumption, which is why Taiwan has targeted it as a foreign market for its exporters to explore, the ministry said.
In addition to textiles, the ministry is looking at plastic and rubber products, machine tools, renewable energy devices and fasteners as products with potential in the Brazilian market.
Two-way trade between the countries totaled US$3.99 billion in 2014, including US$1.67 billion in exports from Taiwan to Brazil.
The South American country was Taiwan’s 22nd largest export market and its largest trading partner in Latin America, the MOEA said.
As of the end of February, Taiwanese investors had poured a total of US$292 million into about 30 projects in Brazil, spanning the information/communications, metal processing, retail/wholesale, hotel, dining services, real estate and trading sectors.
