Sao Paulo, Brazil, Oct. 8 (CNA) An ongoing Taiwanese trade mission to Latin America visited Sao Paulo, Brazil’s commercial and industrial center, Thursday to seek trade opportunities and promote Taiwanese brands.

The mission, organized by the semi-official Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) , includes representatives of 23 Taiwanese companies involved in auto and motorcycle parts, machinery, textiles and eight other industries, according to Chu Chien-tsai, a TAITRA official in charge of market exploration.

It is the second time this year that TAITRA has organized a Taiwanese trade mission to visit Brazil, on the grounds that Brazil is not only one of the newly emerging markets dubbed the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) but also the largest market in South America.

Chu said that although two-way trade between Taiwan and Brazil slid over the past year due to the global economic crunch, business exchanges between the two countries are expected to pick up steam in the latter months of the year.

“I anticipate that today’s trade talks will pick up new orders and consequently give a boost to two-way business, ” Chu told CNA.

According to official Brazilian trade figures, Taiwan’s exports to Brazil amounted to US$1.31 billion in the first eight months of this year, representing a year-on-year decline of 42.04 percent, while imports from Brazil totaled US$664 million, down 49.34 percent.

Mission leader Sun Cheng-tah, chairman of Sungreat General Supply Co., which is one of Taiwan’s top five suppliers of auto parts and accessories, said Taiwanese businesses should grasp the golden opportunities presented by Brazil’s economic takeoff to explore their overseas markets.

In general, he said, South America is a huge but volatile and unstable market. “The only way to survive the South American market and thrive there is to incessantly explore new markets and get new customers,” Sun said.

In addition to promoting auto and motorcycle parts, Sun said, his company is also expected to seek Brazilian partners to start a joint venture in which parts can be assembled locally.

Meanwhile, Chiu Ju-chun, director of the TAITRA trade center in Brazil, said that after a series of downturns since late last year, the Brazilian currency began to appreciate in April this year and that currently, the Brazil real stands at about 1.8 to the U.S. dollar, a value that is conducive to imports.

With its gross domestic product (GDP) edging up 1.9 percent in the second quarter of this year, the Brazilian government is confident that Brazil’s GDP will grow at least 1 percent for the whole of 2009, Chiu said.

The mission, which has visited Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires, where it secured orders worth a total of US$3.18 million, is scheduled to visit Ecuador and Mexico on the last legs of its Latin America tour. (By Tang Ya-lin and Deborah Kuo)