The Brazilian Approach to its South-South Trade and Investment Relations: The Case of Angola

Abstract

South-South trade and investment relations have grown considerably over the past years. This increase in economic transactions have been seen as a positive advancement towards the development of Southern countries economies, especially in what concerns a reduction of their dependence to central economies. However, what it is yet not clear is the role of law in this process. How are Southern and developing economies legally stimulating and increasing their economic ties? What are the main regulatory tools used by those countries? To what extent are they different from those that have coordinated North-South relations? This paper takes the case of Angola and Brazil relations to draw on these analyses, and it focuses on the following elementary question: What are the main regulatory characteristics of Brazil and Angola trade and investment relations? We will address this case analysis using empirical research methods, including analysis of aggregated data, primary and secondary documents, and interviews with government representatives and business community.