The Brazil-U.S. Business Council held its 35th Annual Plenary Session on September 27, at U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., amid signs of improvement in the bilateral trade and investment climate. The session marks the annual coming together of the Council and its Brazilian partner, the National Confederation of Industry (CNI). The plenary was chaired by Council Executive Director Cassia Carvalho.

Speakers included Myron Brilliant, Executive Vice President and Head of International Affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Jane Fraser, CEO of Citigroup Latin America and Chair of the U.S. Section of the Council. Ambassadors of both countries also spoke. They are Ambassador Sergio Amaral, Brazilian envoy to the United States, and U.S. Ambassador to Brazil Michael McKinley. Officials of the U.S. Department of Commerce and Brazil’ s Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services, along with CNI Industrial Development Director Carlos Abijaodi, discussed efforts aimed at an enhanced economic partnership, including regulatory issues and logistics. Debaters including Thomas Shannon, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, and Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva, CEO of Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer, reviewed the strategic vision for Brazil and the U.S.

The plenary comes amid signs of greater openness toward investment in Brazil. Foreign direct investment into Brazil for the 12 months through August topped $82 billion. The government’s concessions and privatizations program took a giant leap Wednesday, selling four power stations and 37 oil and gas development blocks to investors from China, the U.S. and several other nations, bringing nearly R$16 billion into government coffers. Trade is booming, with Brazil, as of August, already breaking its record 2016 trade surplus of $44.7 billion.