Regional Economic Integration in Which

Regional Economic Integration

In which regional or multilateral trade blocs does Brazil participate?

Brazil is a founding member of the regional Latin American common market Mercosur.

Which is the most important one?

Brazil, often called a 'middle income country,' has proved to be a defining voice of leadership in Mercosur. Mercosur was created to advance regional middle-income Latin and Central American interests in the 1990s. Unlike low-income countries like China and India, and high-income trading blocks and countries like the European Union (EU) nations and the United States, middle-income nations like Brazil "have not fared very well in the last twenty years, and the ones that have opened the most to the international economy have done even worse" (Trade blocs, neoliberalism, and the quality of life in Latin America, 2004, UCLA).

What other countries are involved in this (most important) organization?

Mercosur was formed in 1991 as an agreement between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, all of which were deemed to have similar regional interests and levels of economic development (Trade blocs, neoliberalism, and the quality of life in Latin America, 2004, UCLA).

What role does this organization play? Does it only relate to trade?

The major emphasis of Mercosur's advocacy surrounds trade, but also pertains to issues of poverty eradication and cultural integrity. Especially after the creation of NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that exists between the U.S., Mexico and Canada, the organization has attempted to voice a contrarian perspective of free trade in the hemisphere. It attempts to critique the 'neoliberal' agenda in favor of free trade that it believes has harmed the emerging middle-income countries of the region (Trade blocs, neoliberalism, and the quality of life in Latin America, 2004, UCLA).

To what extent does this organization make rules and enforce them?

The countries of Mercosur mainly act as a collective pressure-point against more powerful international actors such as the United States. The organization has applied pressure to the U.S. To agree to lower its subsidies on its agricultural goods although, according to Washington these subsides should be contested within the framework of the World Trade Organization alone (Trade blocs, neoliberalism, and the quality of life in Latin America, 2004, UCLA).

How might this organization influence the marketing and business strategies of Apple computer (iPod) and web marketing?

Because of the difficulty in securing funding for higher education and the need for a college degree to succeed in the modern economy, more and more students from middle-income nations like Brazil are turning to the Internet for university degrees. Using web marketing strategies combined with educational initiatives -- such as downloadable podcasts and educational websites with a marketing and advertising component might be one way to capitalize upon this trend (Trade blocs, neoliberalism, and the quality of life in Latin America, 2004, UCLA).

What potential impact does the most important trade bloc have on the marketing and business strategies of Apple Computer and general website marketing?

Mercosur has taken a hostile attitude, in general, to large Western companies. It believes such companies are profiting off of less-developed nations and prevent such nations from fully entering the developed world as global players. This reflects, to some extent, the attitude of the citizens of the nations of Mercosur countries. Deemphasizing the 'Americanness' of Apple might be necessary in Brazil, in contrast to nations where the American quality of a product might have more cache.

Does this trade bloc represent primarily economic convergence or does it substantially include political and other aspects of convergence as well?

Mercosur was created as a counterweight to the neoliberal ideology popular in the 1990s which suggested that all forms of free trade, the global homogenization of rules and cultures, and rampant technological development would result in improvements in the quality of life of the entire world. Although not explicitly political, political and social issues of poverty eradication and greater economic autonomy of member nations on the world stage are part of its schema of beliefs.