International Business School Dean Bruce Magid leaves today for Brazil, accompanying Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick on a trade summit with the intention of solidifying commerce agreements between the state and the South American country. They plan to meet with Brazilian leaders, and bring new jobs through technology and investment to the Commonwealth.
On a daily basis, Magid, the Governor and other members of the mission will “be meeting with members of the Brazilian ministry of education and finance, the former president of the Central Bank of Brazil, executives from major companies in health care and clean technology, and experts in economic development and international trade, among others,” Magid wrote in an e-mail.
The mission is part of an effort “to build on the commercial and cultural connections between Massachusetts and Brazil. We hope to grow jobs in the Commonwealth by creating new opportunities for trade and investment.”
Magid also hopes to bring more international attention and students to Brandeis, as well as to develop job and internship opportunities for Brandeis alumni. He looks forward to the opportunity “to enhance the visibility of Brandeis University and Brandeis International Business School and further advance our efforts to attract more students from the region.”
Magid was chosen for the trade mission because of his strong background not only as the dean of Brandeis’ International Business School, but also as former managing director and senior vice president at Bank of America, where he led the bank’s trade finance activities in Latin America. “I also was on the Board of the Massachusetts Office of International Trade and Investment,” he wrote, “where I offered policy advice on trade issues for the state.”
Trade relations with Brazil will continue to positively affect Brandeis after the current mission is complete, Magid wrote.
“The mission will lay the foundation for the business school’s second annual Global Trade Summit in April, which features Brazil as one of its focus countries.”
After the first Global Trade Summit with Patrick, which attracted more than 300 business, academic and government leaders, Brandeis is continuing forward as a major player in Massachusetts-International trade.
He is confident that the mission to Brazil will “be equally productive in building bridges between the two regions” as had been the summit for Israel and the United Kingdom earlier this year, on which he accompanied Patrick as well. He believes it will encourage Brazilian students to attend American colleges and universities such as Brandeis.
Massachusetts and Brazil already have a working trade relationship, which Patrick and Magid hope both to solidify and amplify. Exports to the country reached $396 million last year and increased by 31 percent in the past 12 months with imports that totaled approximately $80 million.
Brazil is the largest economy in South America and is projected quickly to become the sixth largest economy in the world.
Patrick hopes to attract Brazil’s expedient growth and bring its innovation, especially in clean energy, to Massachusetts.
