Brazil will amend its immigration law to attract skilled foreigners such as engineers, doctors and tech specialists as part of efforts to spur stronger economic growth, an official said today.
"We are looking at attracting talents, which implies improving immigration regulations for professionals who want to work in Brazil," said Marcelo Neri, the strategic affairs secretary in the presidential office.
He said the "More Doctors" program under which thousands of foreign medics have been recruited to serve in underprivileged areas, mainly in Brazil's north and northeast, was an example of the labor shift.
"There are various areas in which they (skilled professionals) are needed," Neri said, without giving a timeframe.
"We are preparing legislation for engineers, doctors, the technology sector. It's geared toward highly-skilled professionals."
Brazil, home to more than 200 million, remains a closed society, with only 0.3 per cent of the population born abroad, compared with a world average of three percent, Neri said.
The government and market analysts say Brazil's GDP growth in 2013 reached 2.3 per cent. This year, analysts are banking on a two percent expansion, but officials hope luring skilled foreign labor will kickstart growth.
Brazil's jobless rate hit a historic low of 4.6 per cent late last year.
