What do US Special Operations Forces generals in Baghdad and senior bankers in Sao Paulo have in common?
Every time they drive to work, running risks of roadside attacks from armed assailants, chances are their lives are being protected by armored vehicles built by the same Brazilian companies.
Those firms -- world leaders thanks to their long experience in countering the frequent risk to motorists in Brazil from armed bandits -- are branching out aggressively into the Middle East as domestic sales flatten.
Indeed, the Iraqi market is proving so profitable that some of the companies have geared up operations to get a bigger slice of the pie.
That is the case for High Protection Group (HPC), a Brazilian-run outfit that has its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, to better bid for US government contracts.
Chief executive officer Mauricio Junot told reporters that by next year, the Middle East region was expected to generate nearly a quarter of the group's total turnover, nearly the same proportion as that raised in Brazil.
"We are saving lives -- that's my goal," Junot said.
He admitted though that the magnitude of danger -- and the corresponding level of armor -- was much, much greater in Iraq than in Brazil.
"We have there in Iraq around 350 cars, but we have 80 to 85 cars that have been destroyed," he said.
"When we send a car to Iraq, we know tomorrow, or in one month, or in three months, this car will be destroyed," he said.
Junot said he recently received a call from a US special forces general in Iraq who thanked him profusely for saving his life in an attack on his HPC-outfitted vehicle. Junot declined to identify the general, citing business confidentiality.
HPC produces many components -- including the ultra-thick reinforced car windows and ultra-resistant carbon fiber panels -- at its two factories in the Sao Paulo suburb of Itaquaquecetuba that employ 170 people.
But, at the urging of US authorities, the company three years ago opened another factory in Jordan to be closer to Iraq, he said.
Most of the employees are Brazilians.
The vehicles fitted there are designed to withstand high-caliber rounds from guns such as AK-47s and low-level explosives.
Such levels of armor are forbidden in Brazil, where handguns are far more common in robberies, and where the military is keen to prevent criminals from getting their hands on vehicles that rival their own assault units.
Fifo Anspach, vice-president of the Abrablin association of armored car makers in Brazil, said: "Brazil has an industry that has greatly developed in the past few years and it exports its own armoring technology, for example for Iraq, where there is a big demand for armored vehicles."
Taiwan aims to open 18 representative offices and seven Taiwan Tourism Information Centers worldwide by next year to attract international visitors, the Tourism Administration said on Saturday. The agency has so far opened three representative offices abroad this year and would open two more before the end of the year, it said. It has also already opened information centers in Jakarta, Mumbai and Paris, and is to open one in Vancouver next month and in Manila in December, it said. Next year, it would also open offices in Amsterdam, Dubai and Sydney, it added. While the Cabinet did not mention international tourists in its
EYES AT SEA: Many marine enthusiasts have expressed interest in volunteering for coastal patrols, which would help identify stowaways and illegal fishing, the CGA said Six thousand coastal patrol volunteers are to be recruited for 159 inspection offices to enhance the nation’s response to “gray zone” conflicts, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) sources said yesterday. Volunteer teams would be established to increase the resilience of coastal defense systems in the wake of two unlawful entries attempted by Chinese over the past three months, Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. A former Chinese navy captain drove a motorboat into the Tamsui River (淡水河) in Taipei on the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, while another Chinese man sailed in a rubber boat into the Houkeng
NEXT LEVEL: The defense ministry confirmed that a video released last month featured personnel piloting new FPV drone systems being developed by the Armaments Bureau Taipei and Washington are pushing for their drone companies to work together to establish a China-free supply chain, the Financial Times reported on Friday. A delegation of high-level executives and US government officials were yesterday to arrive in Taipei to discuss with their Taiwanese counterparts collaboration on drone technology procurement and development, the report said. The executives represent 26 US manufacturers of drone and counter-drone systems, while the officials are from the US Department of Commerce and the US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit, along with Dev Shenoy, principal director for microelectronics in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense
‘ANONYMOUS 64’: A national security official said that it is an attempt by China to increase domestic anti-Taiwanese sentiment and inflame cross-strait tensions The Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM) yesterday denied accusations by China that it had undermined regional security by carrying out cyberattacks against targets in China, adding instead that Beijing was responsible for raising tensions and undermining regional peace. The Chinese Ministry of State Security on WeChat accused a hacker group called “Anonymous 64” of targeting China, Hong Kong and Macau starting earlier this year through frequent cyberattacks. The group carried out cyberattacks to seize control of Web sites, outdoor electronic billboards and video-on-demand platforms in China, Hong Kong and Macau, it said, adding the hackers’