2008 annual report - US Trade and Development Agency

2008 country of the year:Brazil
USTDA is pleased to recognize Brazil as its 2008 Country of the Year. Brazil was chosen
due to the success of the Agency’s portfolio, the country’s significant economic progress
in recent years, the success of U.S. firms in benefiting from USTDA’s program in Brazil, and
the very promising future of USTDA’s relationship with strong Brazilian project sponsors.
As the third largest recipient of
USTDA’s funding for the Latin
America and Caribbean region,
USTDA has invested in 91 priority
development projects in Brazil. As
a result, USTDA’s investments in
Brazil have facilitated $ 263 million
in U.S. exports.
Brazil is the largest economy in
Latin America and is a regional
success story. The country has
produced steady economic growth,
transformed itself into a creditor
nation, and achieved investment
grade status from Standard
& Poor’s and Moody’s. Brazil is
an attractive location for foreign
investment and is considered an
important U.S. commercial partner
in the region. In fact, two-way
trade between the United States
and Brazil grew by 78 percent to
$ 50.2 billion in 2007, up from
$ 28.2 billion in 2002.
In parallel with these developments,
Brazil is investing heavily in
infrastructure. The Brazilian government
has initiated a R$ 500 billion
(US$ 230 billion), four-year
program of major infrastructure
projects to modernize the country’s
transportation, energy, and
utility sectors. In addition, Brazilian
state and municipal governments,
as well as the private sector, have
considerable future plans that will
6 U.S. Trade and Development Agency
contribute to the country’s infrastructure
development.
USTDA’s program in Brazil supports
these goals and the objectives
of the U.S.-Brazil Commercial
Dialogue. Launched in June 2006,
the Dialogue seeks to stimulate
bilateral trade and investment, with
a focus on improving the competitiveness
of each country.
By working with innovative
Brazilian partners, USTDA has
identified projects that would best
benefit from U.S. technologies
and services during project
implementation. Aviation, surface
transportation, and ICT are the
most active sectors for USTDA
in Brazil.
USTDA’s largest success story in
Brazil stems from an orientation
visit the Agency sponsored for
rail officials, led by the Brazilian
Association of National Rail
Transporters (see feature on p. 9).
Over the course of the visit,
the Brazilian delegates were
introduced to a variety of U.S.
rail technologies. As a result of
contacts made during the visit,
one of the participating Brazilian
companies, MRS Logística,
purchased $ 126 million in General
Electric (GE) locomotives.
In another example of the success
of USTDA’s partnerships in Brazil,
$ 40 million in U.S. exports by GE,
Flowserve, Unifrax, Honeywell and
Kidde Fire Fighting originated from
a USTDA-sponsored technical
assistance program for Petrobras,
Brazil’s national oil company. The
program, which was carried out
by Risk, Reliability and Safety
Engineering, of League City, Texas,
assisted Petrobras in upgrading its
refinery fire control systems.
Building upon these successes,
USTDA awarded three grants
in FY 2008 to strong Brazilian
project sponsors. The grants,
valued at over $ 1.2 million,
support development priorities
in the ICT and aviation sectors.
In the State of Acre, for example,
USTDA is funding a study for the
State Secretariat of Administrative
Management to determine the
feasibility of implementing a
statewide broadband connectivity
project to increase Internet
access in the remote regions of
the state. Meanwhile, USTDA
is providing two grants to the
State of Minas Gerais. Under
a grant to the State Economic
Development Secretariat, USTDA
is furthering the development of
an administrative data center.
A separate grant to the Transport
and Public Works Secretariat
Photo © Atlantide Phototravel/Corbis