The Government of Brazil will hold a High-level Meeting for Foreign Investors in Geneva, Switzerland, on Thursday, 29 January. The meeting, which is being organized with the support of UNCTAD, is meant to promote Brazil as a prime destination for foreign investment. It will highlight the return to economic growth in Brazil, fuelled by relatively low inflation, monetary stability, progress in fiscal and social security reforms, a new regulatory environment and a new legal framework for public-private partnerships, all of which are key factors for creating and strengthening a favourable and safe climate for private investment in the country.
The meeting will take place at Geneva´s Palais des Nations from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. It will be chaired by the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who will be accompanied by several members of his Cabinet, including the Ministers of Foreign Affairs; Finance; Planning; Development, Industry and Foreign Trade; Tourism; Energy; and Sports. In addition to the President, the Ministers of Finance; Planning; and Development, Industry and Foreign Trade will address the Meeting on issues related to the macroeconomic outlook and fiscal and social security reforms, infrastructure development, the long-term budget and public-private partnerships, as well as industrial development and its priorities. A Q&A session will follow the formal presentations. In the afternoon, Ministers will meet individually with corporate representatives.
The meeting is intended for senior executives from companies that already invest in Brazil or have an interest in doing so. At press time, more than 200 executives from 26 countries had confirmed their participation, including some 45 CEOs from such transnational corporations as Alcatel, Arcelor, Degussa, Nestlé, PSA Peugeot-Citroën, Royal Philips Electronics, Schindler, Sonae, Stora Enso and Telefonica. The temporary decline in FDI flows to Brazil resembles overall trends in FDI flows to the Latin America region as a whole and is partly attributed to normalization, i.e., the return to patterns preceding the FDI boom of the late 1990s. FDI flows are expected to increase in light of the recent policy reforms undertaken by the country, especially in the fiscal and social security areas. The European Union is currently the largest investor in Brazil, accounting for half of all FDI flows, compared to one fifth from the United States (in 2002) (table 1). Within the EU, Belgium and Luxembourg, France, Netherlands and Portugal invested the most. While overall FDI flows were down, flows to the manufacturing sector actually increased, at least until 2002, led by foods, automobiles and chemicals. This trend began after the 1998 devaluation (table 2).
The event is meant to be the first in a series of meetings that will culminate in an Investment Summit to be held on the eve of UNCTAD XI, the organization´s quadrennial conference (São Paulo, Brazil, 13-18 June). UNCTAD will release its Investment Policy Review of Brazil at the Summit. It is also providing practical assistance in the area of investment promotion and enterprise development to the relevant ministries and in partnership with key national institutions, including Investe Brasil and SEBRAE.UNCTAD´s support is part of its mandate to support efforts by developing countries to attract FDI and to maximize its net benefits by helping them to formulate and implement appropriate policies and set up appropriate regulatory frameworks.
