Foxconn Technology Group is in talks with the Brazilian government to spend $12 billion to build new manufacturing facilities in the country, in what would be the Taiwanese firm's biggest overseas investment yet.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff unveiled the plan on a visit to China for the BRICS Summit in Sanya. She said the government is studying Foxconn's investment plan.

The Taipei-based maker of Apple Inc.'s iPhone and iPad currently has most of its operations in Shenzhen on China's Mainland. It has recently moved part of its production out of Shenzhen to China's inland provinces and other countries due to rising labor cost and a string of worker suicides last year.

As of Sept. 6, Foxconn and its affiliates had received approval from the Taiwanese government to invest some NT$134 billion ($4.6 billion) in the Mainland since 1974, according to filings with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.

Foxconn's Brazilian investment would help its clients – including Apple, HP and Dell – circumvent tax barriers and sell their products at a more competitive price in South America.

Brazilian customers are keen consumers of high-end electronic products, but the goods are highly priced due to high production costs and taxes. Apple's iPad, for instance, is sold for about $860 in Brazil, more than twice the price in the United States.

Brazil has the heaviest import tax burden in South America and some of the world's highest manufacturing costs. But the nation, a member of BRICS and South America's largest economy, is still considered as an attractive market.

Brazil's science and technology minister Aloizio Mercadante said the government has been talking with Foxconn for three months, and the investment is expected to begin this November.

China's business press carried the story above on Wednesday. China.org.cn has not checked the stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

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