Brazil: A giant market shackled by its own complexity—but not without a key

In July 2025, I returned to Brazil—25 years after my first visit as a young executive, eager to understand one of the world’s most promising markets. Back then, I encountered a country full of ambition, creativity, and economic potential, but also entangled in bureaucracy, burdened by volatility, and hard to navigate.

A generation later, the ambition is still there. So is the opportunity. But so are many of the same structural challenges.

A market too big to ignore

With a population of over 213 million and a 2025 GDP projected at $2.13 trillion, Brazil is Latin America’s heavyweight. It’s the region’s beating consumer heart, a manufacturing center with real engineering depth, and a gateway to the broader South American market. If you want to grow in this part of the world, Brazil isn’t optional.

And yet, global companies keep approaching it with caution—or not at all. Why?

The Brazil business paradox

Brazil is a paradox. It’s a country with world-class talent, fortschrittliche Fertigungsmöglichkeiten, and a strategic geographic position—yet consistently ranked among the most challenging places to do business.

In my experience, six challenges consistently trip up even the most prepared global companies:

1. Tax laws that confuse more than they clarify

There’s no sugarcoating it: Brazil’s tax system is among the most complicated in the world. Layered federal, state, and local taxes—many of them overlapping—make supply chain design a strategic chess match.

From my perspective, the way to win here is to treat tax compliance as part of your Lieferkette architecture, not just a finance function. The companies that navigate it well combine local tax expertise with digital compliance systems that adjust in real time, so regulatory shifts don’t disrupt production or delivery schedules. At Flex, our Brazil operations integrate tax intelligence directly into planning and logistics tools, so regulatory shifts don’t stall production or delay delivery.

2. Labor laws that limit flexibility

Employment regulations in Brazil are rigid, making it difficult to adjust staffing or modernize work structures. For companies entering the market, it can feel like agility is the first thing to go.

In my experience, success here comes from designing operations that align with compliance requirements while still supporting flexibility. This often means investing in workforce development, digital scheduling and safety systems, and proactive employee engagement, creating a work environment that is both compliant and adaptable.

3. Currency volatility

The Brazilian real is prone to sharp fluctuations, complicating pricing, and forecasting.

The key here is building more of your sourcing and manufacturing footprint inside Brazil, so you’re less exposed to currency swings. Pairing that with multi-currency planning and smart hedging strategies helps keep costs predictable, even when the real is anything but.

4. Geographic scale and infrastructure gaps

Brazil’s vast territory and uneven infrastructure can cripple logistics, especially for companies serving multiple regions.

The companies that win here place manufacturing and distribution close to their end markets, reducing the distance goods must travel. They combine that with advanced logistics planning to make sure products move efficiently despite infrastructure challenges. In the case of Flex, sites in Manaus, Jaguariúna, and Sorocaba—all within just fifteen minutes of a major nearby airport—allow us to regionalize production and reduce delivery lead times across the country.

5. Environmental regulations

Brazil enforces environmental laws that are essential but complex, covering everything from emissions to waste disposal. Compliance is mandatory, and customer demands continue to rise.

What matters most here is the understanding that success comes when sustainability is embedded into your product design and operations, rather than a bolt-on. The most forward-looking manufacturers here use circular practices and green manufacturing to both meet regulations and differentiate themselves in the market.

6. Innovation bottlenecks

While Brazil has a dynamic startup ecosystem and public policies aimed at fostering innovation—such as the Informatics Law and the New Industry Brazil program—challenges like bureaucracy and limited access to funding still pose obstacles to the advancement of R&D initiatives.

The way to overcome this is to tap into existing R&D networks instead of building in isolation. Partnerships with universities, research institutes, and government programs accelerate development and help navigate regulatory hurdles. Our collaboration with FIT, a non-profit R&D institute, has allowed us to shorten time to market for new products developed in Brazil.

Why I believe in Brazil: A people-driven future

For all its challenges, Brazil remains one of the most promising places in the world to manufacture and scale.

Why? Because its biggest asset is also its most overlooked: its people.

The resilience, creativity, and technical skill here are unmatched. From engineers to operators, Brazil’s workforce is world-class.

Whenever I’m walking a line in Sorocaba or doing a site review in Jaguariúna, I’m reminded how much ingenuity and problem-solving talent exists here. These teams aren’t just meeting the standard, they’re raising it.

My takeaway: Brazil isn’t easy, but it’s worth it

Doing business in Brazil is complex. It takes patience, preparation, and local know-how to succeed. But for companies in industrielle Ausrüstung und consumer electronics, especially those looking to serve Latin America or diversify their supply chain, it’s an opportunity worth chasing.

The key is partnership. You can’t win in Brazil on your own. You need partners who know the terrain, can navigate tax and labor complexity, and can build innovation capacity inside the country. I’ve seen this firsthand.

Through Flex’s collaboration with MIT and the designation of our Sorocaba site as a “living lab,” we’re applying AI, automation, and system-level solutions to reimagine manufacturing.

Programs like Sinctronics, our integrated circular economy ecosystem, show how sustainability can become a real competitive advantage in Brazil.

And these are just a few of countless examples of what’s possible when talent, innovation, and strategy align.

So, 25 years later, I still believe in Brazil’s promise. Not because it’s simple, but because it’s strategic. The companies that get Brazil right don’t just gain access to a market, they gain a competitive edge.