In her first ever address at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, President Dilma Rousseff underscored to business leaders and heads of state that emerging economies like Brazil are critical in the global economic recovery. She pointed out that would be hasty to anticipate that these countries will lose momentum as the global financial crisis ends.

“We are talking about the countries with the biggest opportunities for investment and prospects for expanding consumption. We are countries with a demand for a diversified logistics infrastructure, social, and urban infrastructure, as well as energy, oil, gas, ores, and industrial and agricultural investments. We are societies currently undergoing a strong social mobility process, with new and dynamic markets being established and domestic markets that consist of hundreds of millions, sometimes even billions, of consumers,” she argued.

Speaking about Brazil specifically, Rousseff said that the country has been experiencing profound social change in recent years, to become a mostly middle class country founded on rapid social rise. The president pointed out that over 36 million men and women have been lifted out of extreme poverty since 2003, and the average per capita income of the population has increased 78%.

“We have created a large domestic market for mass consumption, and are now one of the world's largest markets for automobiles, computers, mobiles, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. However, only 47% of Brazilian households have computers, 55% of households have automatic washing machines, 17% have freezers, and 8% have flat-screen TV sets, which clearly shows the size of the demand yet to be met and the related business opportunities,” she illustrated.