SÃO PAULO — Leading Brazilian companies in industries from offshore oil to heavy construction plan to send delegations to Việt Nam in early 2027 to look for investment and joint-venture opportunities, their executives told Việt Nam’s ambassador to Brazil this week.

Ambassador Bùi Văn Nghị met business leaders from 12 Brazillian companies, including CSX Holding, Azevedo & Travassos, Etesco and Monte Carlo, on October 21. The meeting was part of his five-day visit to São Paulo, during which the diplomat pitched Vietnamese seafood, fruit and technology.

He urged Brazilian executives to support negotiations on a preferential trade agreement between Việt Nam and Mercosur, the South American trade bloc that includes Brazil. A deal would improve market access and lay the groundwork for lasting commercial ties, Nghị said, urging companies to help speed up the talks.

Seafood was a major focus of the trip. Fourteen Vietnamese companies, nine of them members of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), exhibited at the Seafood Show Latin America 2026 trade fair, which drew about 4,500 visitors to Sao Paulo’s Anhembi exhibition centre.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, the ambassador said Vietnamese shrimp, pangasius, tuna and processed seafood had established a solid foothold in global markets and that demand for them was rising in Brazil and across Latin America.

He called for the two countries to foster direct company-to-company links, deepen technical cooperation to facilitate trade and widen investment in the seafood industry.

A day earlier, the ambassador and the VASEP delegation met executives of Brazilian food giant JBS to discuss getting more Vietnamese seafood and processed tropical fruit into the company’s Brazilian distribution network. He urged JBS to buy more, broaden its product range and deal directly with Vietnamese suppliers.

VASEP Vice Chair Tô Thị Tường Lan said Vietnamese companies could supply high-value seafood and Asian foods, and that the association wanted closer contact with JBS’s business units to learn Brazilian consumers’ needs and technical requirements.

JBS executive Fabio Baptista said the company had come away with a positive view of Vietnamese suppliers after visiting their plants, and wanted to deepen existing partnerships while finding new suppliers and products. Trade also runs the other way, with JBS saying it wants to expand business with importers in Việt Nam.

The two sides also discussed taxes, testing and customs delays. The executive said some shipments had faced long waits for testing, adding storage costs and disrupting its plans, and called for continued coordination with the embassy, VASEP and authorities in both countries.

Consistent quality and compliance with import rules would be key to expanding trade, he added.

In technology, MK Alterosa Group, which manufactures in Brazil and works with Việt Nam’s MK, said it plans to invest about US$30 million from 2027 to 2031 in new growth areas.

MK Alterosa CEO Celso Nunes told Nghị that the company was developing smart card, payment, digital ID and eSIM products as well as AI-powered cameras, and planned to expand into Latin America and the Caribbean.

At FecomercioSP, which represents the state’s commerce, services and tourism companies, he told the federation’s vice president, Rubens Medrano, that two-way trade had plenty of room to grow and called for closer links between Vietnamese producers and Brazilian importers and retailers.

Medrano offered to help companies understand the market and to raise their concerns with authorities, including customs clearance hold-ups at the port of Santos, one of Brazil’s busiest.

At FIESP, the state’s industry federation, the ambassador asked Osmar Chohfi, vice president of its foreign trade council, to promote opportunities in Việt Nam to members and help them find partners in sectors such as agricultural processing, technology and clean energy.

With both groups, he discussed seminars, business matchmaking and trade delegations exchanges.

On October 22, the diplomat met Nizar El Ghandour, international cooperation director at certification body FAMBRAS Halal, to discuss helping Vietnamese companies sell to Muslim consumers.

He proposed sharing information on halal standards and certification, connecting experts and guiding exporters, starting with farm products, food and processed seafood. The two sides also discussed halal production and distribution partnerships as Việt Nam seeks to diversify its export markets. — VNS