Dr Stefan Zoller is Chairman of the BDI Brazil Board. This document is a contribution to the June 2014 edition of the newsletter of the EU-LAC Foundation dedicated to SMEs.
Success stories in economic cooperation between Brazil and Germany have a long history. And this partnership is not limited to the big players. The force behind an efficient cooperation is the “German Mittelstand”, the term used worldwide to designate my country’s small and medium‑sized enterprises. These companies – many of them hidden champions – know very well how to operate in regional and global scenarios, often under conditions that cause large companies to fail. And it is precisely because of these small and medium-sized enterprises that Germany has so much to offer Brazil. Be it in the services sector, investment goods, sustainable energy generation or IT, the partnership between the two countries provides perfect complementarity to come to grips with future challenges and demands of an increasingly competition-oriented world market. Read paper