Event Summary

Brazilian Infrastructure Investment Opportunities: Beyond the Elections

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Bretton Woods Committee

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On Thursday, June 21, the Bretton Woods Committee co-hosted a private roundtable titled, Brazilian Infrastructure Investment Opportunities: Beyond the Elections in partnership with the Council of the Americas, Oliver Wyman, and the World Bank Group. A group of 40 private sector participants alongside public and multilateral leaders discussed ways to overcome structural hurdles to infrastructure finance and to achieve greater private sector infrastructure investment in Brazil. The discussion was co-chaired by Bretton Woods Committee Advisory Council Member, Bill Rhodes and World Bank Group CFO, Joaquim Levy.

Joao Manoel Pinho de Mello, Secretary for Productivity and Competitiveness at the Brazil Ministry of Finance, outlined recent domestic legislations that have passed including the BNDES subsidy policy that had kept the majority of infrastructure investment in the public sphere, and a civil society accountability law that are both aimed to create a better enabling environment for private investment in infrastructure. Ana Carla Abrao Costa, Partner of Finance, Risk and Public Policy at Oliver Wyman Brazil, gave a presentation of recent research on the state of infrastructure in Brazil highlighting a large infrastructure gap, an expected steady pipeline of projects, and an evolving regulatory environment that makes it an attractive environment for investors. Click here to view presentation.

There is a clear need for increased infrastructure investment in Brazil well into the future and the open discussion focused on how the domestic government, multilateral institutions, and private sector can partner to crowd-in additional private capital, mitigate risks and create an enabling environment for foreign investment. Much of the conversation centered around how stakeholders can best manage the regulatory, political and foreign exchanges risks; specific financial products, guarantees, and insurances the MDBs can offer; and the role of the BNDES as it transitions from lender to coordinating body. This was part of a series of roundtables the Bretton Woods Committee has organized in collaboration with the World Bank focused on catalyzing private sector infrastructure investment in emerging markets and developing economies.

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