THE Victorian government and business community are being urged to cast their sights further afield to tackle "theoretically limitless business opportunities" in Latin America.
According to The Australian Financial Review, the opportunities for Victorian firms identified in the report by frank advice (international) are mainly in Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, in agribusiness, energy and environmental technologies, infrastructure and construction, and the automotive, information and education and training sectors.
But the report, commissioned by the Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development, cautions that firms wanting to crack Latin American markets would need to bring benefits to the table for Latin American partners to overcome "a wide range of ... perceptual, geographic, cultural, linguistic and bureaucratic" obstacles, low reciprocal priorities and underdeveloped networks.
Victorian and Australian firms are already active in Brazil, in agricultural chemicals, wind power, oil and gas exploration, farm machinery, agricultural lending and derivatives trading and education and training.
