BRIC billionaires, brands and banks
Jinfo Blog

By Nancy Davis Kho

Abstract

While western economies stumble, growth in BRIC countries is picking up the pace. This is especially true of Brazil where development, innovation and branding as well as scientific research is rising along with the number of billionaires.

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At a time when western economies regard anaemic economic growth rates as a sign that things are stabilising, investors have looked to BRIC economies for a reminder of what real growth looks like. But using newly minted billionaires as a yardstick, Brazil is far outpacing the fortunes of Russia, India and China, according to a recent story in Forbes.com.

Reported by Kerry Dolan, the Forbes piece points out that the 2011 Forbes Billionaire List saw an explosion of new members from BRIC countries, comprising 108 of the list’s 214 new billionaires. This year, however, only Brazil held on to its previous members and augmented them with new additions; all other BRIC countries in the rankings bobbled, with fewer billionaires this year than last.

In part that is attributed to slower stock market growth in China and Russia compared to Brazil. Tighter ownership disclosure regulations are also increasing transparency of who owns what in Brazil, surfacing reluctant billionaires along the way.

What else may be goosing the markets in Brazil, to the delight of its richest citizens? Increased research and development (R&D) activity, as evidenced by patent activity in the country. Thomson Reuters recently released a report called The Grown-Up BRIC: Innovation & Brand Expansion in Brazil, downloadable for free at http://ip-science.thomsonreuters.com/brazilreport, which looks at the state of innovation and branding in Brazil.

Among its findings is that Brazilian trademark applications grew 200% between 1990 and 2010. The total number of patented inventions grew 64% in the decade leading up to 2010. That compares with declines of 30% and 25% in Europe and Japan, respectively, for the same period. And Brazil is now is the 13th largest producer of scientific research in the world.

There’s another sign that Brazil is mindful of its new power among world economies. Dow Jones reported today that Luciano Coutinho, president of the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES), confirmed that officials of the BRIC countries are holding talks to establish a joint investment bank, modelled after the World Bank.

Looks like next year’s BRIC Billionaires list may get even longer.

For a look at an information resource covering the Brazilian market, you may want to check out our review of CEIC Brazil’s Premium Database (http://web.freepint.com/go/shop/report/1705).

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