On June 19th, 2024, the Institute for International and Area Studies (IIAS) at Tsinghua University hosted a lecture titled "Industrialization and Deindustrialization in Brazil", delivered by Professor Paulo Roberto Feldmann, a professor at the School of Economics, Management, Accounting, and Actuarial Science at the University of São Paulo in Brazil. The lecture was moderated by Huiling Ye, a PhD candidate at IIAS. Over forty attendees, including faculty and students from domestic and international universities, attended the lecture online.
During the lecture, Professor Paulo first briefly reviewed Brazil's industrialization process from the late 1920s to the 1990s. Since the late 1920s, Brazil began import substitution industrialization to establish its own industrial system. The most important phase began in 1956, marked by industrialization led by Juscelino Kubitschek's government, which focused on attracting foreign investment. During this period, the country made significant investments in infrastructure to support industrial development. However, since the 1990s, Brazil has implemented neoliberal measures based on the Washington Consensus, which included opening up to foreign investment and privatizing state-owned enterprises. This intensified domestic industrial competition, leading to the closure of national factories and industrial decline. The participation of manufacturing industries in Brazilian GDP fell from 34% in 1986 to 8.5% in 2023. Professor Paulo further analyzed the reasons for Brazil's deindustrialization from three perspectives: the Washington Consensus, Dutch Disease, and lack of government investments resulting in a very poor business environment. Finally, Professor Paulo emphasized the importance of China-Brazil trade and offered some recommendations. He noted that Brazil had maintained an intense relationship with the United States for more than 70 years, during which the U.S. focused on protecting the interests of large American enterprises in the local market, but this was not beneficial in improving the social conditions for Latin Americans. He hopes that China will not repeat the mistakes of the U.S., but instead act as a partner to Brazil, contributing more to poverty reduction, job creation, support for local companies, and improvements in education and infrastructure.
During the Q&A session, Professor Paulo engaged in in-depth discussions with the audience on topics related to the industrialization processes of China and Brazil and their related industries.
Professor Paulo Roberto Feldmann is a professor and PhD supervisor at the School of Economics, Management, Accounting, and Actuarial Science at the University of São Paulo in Brazil. He also serves as a visiting professor at four universities in Hungary. He holds a bachelor's degree in Engineering from the University of São Paulo and a master's and doctoral degree in Management from the Getulio Vargas Foundation. He has held senior management positions at both domestic and international companies such as Microsoft, Sharp, Philips, Ernst & Young, and Safra Bank. His primary research areas include business management in Latin America, technology, and innovation. He has published many articles in academic journals. His book, "Management in Latin America: Threats and Opportunities in the Globalized World," was published in China in 2022.
Text editor: Latin America and the Caribbean Studies research group
Proofreader: Latin America and the Caribbean Studies research group
