Wal Mart Raises Brazil Investment

American retailer Wal Mart says it plans to invest BRL1.6bn -BRL1.8bn and open around 80 to 90 new stores in Brazil in 2009. The announcement was made by Wal Mart’s president and CEO for the Americas, Craig Herkert, after a meeting with Brazilian president Lula yesterday. This year, the company is investing BRL1.2bn on building 36 new stores in Brazil that will generate over 7,000 jobs, Wal Mart says. The retailer has operated in Brazil since 1995. Yesterday, Wal Mart announced a $100m-$130m investment to further develop operations in Argentina.