Businesses to Invest One Billion in Brazil’s Poor Northeast Region

By Richard Mann, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Tuesday, May 28th, relevant business organizations presented a working proposal to President Jair Bolsonaro, calling for investments of R$1 billion (US$250 million)  for economic rehabilitation and development of towns in Brazil’s Northeast region.

According to the chairman of the Brazilian National Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock (CNA), João Martins, industry confederations can take action to alleviate the problem of poverty in the Northeast, especially in rural areas.

“President Bolsonaro has a project for cities with over 50,000 inhabitants, and we propose to work in poorer cities, for the rural population. Fourteen million people are living in rural areas in the Northeast,” he said.

Among these actions, Martins emphasized the training of young people and health professionals and the modernization of work methods, in addition to rendering the activity of small producers and traders more competitive.

The CNA chairman explained that these funds are in addition to those already invested by the business organizations in the region.

The project will soon be submitted to the Presidential Chief of Staff, Onyx Lorenzoni, who, according to Martins, will align the organizations’ projects with what has already been announced by the government for the Northeast.

Last Friday (May 24th), President Bolsonaro made his first official visit to the region and introduced the Northeast Regional Development Plan of the Northeast Development Superintendency (Sudene), to be implemented in four years, starting in 2020, in 41 cities and nine capital cities in the region.

The document is strategically focused on strengthening the networks of medium-sized cities with areas of influence that may grow economically.

It will be sent to Congress by August to be analyzed in conjunction with the Federal Pluriannual Plan, which defines long-term planning of federal government actions.

Social Security reform gains support

At Tuesday’s meeting at the Palácio do Planalto, the heads of the business organizations also delivered a letter in support of the social security reform proposed by the government, under consideration since February in the Chamber of Deputies.

In the document, the organizations assert that the reform is vital for the release of public and private investments and that they trust Congress’s judgment to approve a fair and sustainable social security system.

For businesspeople, the fiscal constraints affecting the government, caused by the current retirement model, is the main cause of economic stagnation in the country.

“Business organizations are still facing the challenges of an era of rapid technological transformations and global socioeconomic changes. All this leads us to believe that the country can no longer do without a New Social Welfare, the foundation for other modernizing initiatives, which we trust will be proposed at the proper time,” states the letter.

The document is signed by the chairpersons of the following national Confederations:

• Agriculture and Livestock, João Martins;
• Commerce of Goods, Services and Tourism, José Tadros;
• Social Communication, Gláucio Binder
• Cooperatives, Márcio de Freitas;
• Heavy Industry, Paulo Ferreira;
• Health, Breno Monteiro;
• General Insurance, Private Pension and Life, Supplementary Health and Capitalization Companies, Márcio Coriolano;
• Transportation, Vander Costa; and
• Financial Institutions, Sergio Rial.

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