SAO PAULO, March 26 (Reuters) - Latin American

e-commerce giant MercadoLibre ( MELI ) said on Tuesday it plans to invest

a record 23 billion reais ($4.6 billion) in 2024 in Brazil, its

main market, a 21.1% increase from 2023.

The amount, which includes investments and also some

expenses seen by the company as strategic, represents an

acceleration on the pace of the company's annual investments in

Brazil after a 11.5% rise in 2023.

Fernando Yunes, a senior vice-president at MercadoLibre ( MELI ) and

the leader of its marketplace operations in Brazil, told Reuters

this acceleration could be attributed to the firm's intention to

keep gaining share in the country in 2024 and to expectations of

a slightly better market when compared to last year.

However he noted the investments are focused in the

long-term.

The Uruguay-based company, which generates more than half of

its revenue in Brazil, has been raising its investments in the

South American nation over the past few years, partially boosted

by a pandemic-related boom in the e-commerce segment.

As a comparison, MercadoLibre ( MELI ) invested 2 billion reais in

the country in 2019.

Yunes said the company intends to concentrate its

investments in the country this year in four areas, with the

main one being logistics.

Apart from opening a new distribution center in the state of

Pernambuco in July or August, which had been already announced,

the company is assessing whether to launch another two

distribution centers in the country, as it wants to expand its

presence across Brazilian regions where it has lower presence,

Yunes said, without specifying exactly where they would be

located.

MercadoLibre ( MELI ) also wants to allocate investments in

technology, especially by hiring fresh staff, and in its fintech

unit Mercado Pago, by launching new products in the credit,

insurance and investments segments, according to Yunes.

Another focus will be in its advertising business Mercado

Ads, with the company aiming to create new tools that could

attract bigger audiences to advertisers, the executive said.

($1 = 4.9733 reais)

(Reporting by Andre Romani; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)