Domingo Brief — Visits from Taipei, Brazilian tourism, & Uruguay’s sustainable plywood

Each Sunday, take two minutes to catch key stories and opportunities shaping Latin America.

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🇦🇷 Argentina’s economy grew 2.9% in January compared to the previous year, as well as 0.3% over the previous month. While nothing staggering, these figures exceed most analysts’ expectations, as South America’s 2nd-largest economy has faced consistent predictions of recession and contraction for months now.

Latinometrics: Could December’s World Cup victory be behind Argentina’s surprisingly good performance following the new year? It seems unlikely, but certain scholars have observed a correlation between FIFA victories and growth in trade.

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🇧🇷 Brazilian tourism appears to be recovering, as the number of incoming plane seats sold shows growth of 40%—or 1.8M seats—over 2022 figures. While the top destinations remain big cities such as São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Brasilia, the most impressive growth is perhaps the southern island city of Florianópolis, which has been tracking a growth of 364% in terms of seats sold compared to last year.

Latinometrics: Overall, there seems to be a massive opportunity for Brazil to develop its tourism industry. Even prior to the pandemic, the country’s tourism revenue equaled less than 25% of Mexico’s.

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