New LinkedIn group for Australian’s interested in Brazil 2014 World Cup and Rio 2016 Olympics opportunities

Austrade is in the process of setting up a new, exclusive group within LinkedIn which will be targeted at Australian companies interested in opportunities surrounding Brazil’s preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

The group will feature content similar to that previously posted on this blog, however the LinkedIn format provides more functionality allowing interaction between group members and, of course, Austrade’s trade and investment team in Brazil. This new approach will lead to a greater flow of information and help identify the most relevant opportunities for Australian companies in Brazil.

As membership will be restricted to Australian companies and allies, please contact us through any of the contacts on this page to be included in the group, scheduled to be launched within the next few weeks.

2014 Match schedule a revealing look at Brazil´s Cup

The Match Schedule for the 20th edition of the FIFA World Cup was announced in Zurich on 20 October 2011, giving a clearer picture of how teams and supporters will have to structure their travel plans for the event.

The 64 matches will be played in 12 cities across the country, with Sao Paulo finally overcoming its wealth of problems to confirm its right to host the Opening Match on 12 June 2014. Rio de Janeiro remains the venue for the Final. Hosts Brazil will be seeded as A1 and will therefore play the opening match in Sao Paulo and the remaining two group matches in Fortaleza and Brasilia.

All 12 cities will host at least four of the 64 matches, with the final on July 13 at Maracana stadium – according to the schedule, Brazil can only play in Maracana if it reaches the final. The semi-finals will be held in Belo Horizonte and Sao Paulo, with the third place match in Brasilia.

The kick-off have been set as follows (all Brasilia local time – Australian EST is +13 hours):

Opening Match: 17.00

Group Stage matches: 13.00, 16.00, 19.00, 22.00

Round of 16/Quarter-finals: 13.00, 17.00

Semi-finals: 17.00

Match for Third Place: 17.00

Final: 16.00

Venues have also been confirmed for the FIFA Confederations Cup 2013, which will see the champions of the six confederations as well as hosts Brazil and world champions Spain compete between 15 and 30 June 2013. Currently, four host cities and four key matches have been confirmed, while the full match schedule to be confirmed in June 2012. Five teams have already qualified for the tournament in 2013: the Asian champions Japan, CONCACAF Gold Cup winners Mexico, South American champions Uruguay, as well as Spain and Brazil. Key matches include:

Opening Match: Brasilia

Semi-final matches: Belo Horizonte, Fortaleza

Final: Rio de Janeiro

Investment opportunities in Rio de Janeiro

Sistema FIRJAN, the Rio de Janeiro State Federation of Industries, has just released the study “Decision: Rio – Investments 2011-2013”. The document reveals investment amounts to the order of US$ 100 billion across more than 140 projects announced for the next three years, all in Rio de Janeiro state. It presents the investments in full detail and provides additional information arising from the technical studies developed by the FIRJAN System, the result being a dramatic increase in public knowledge of the impacts and opportunities that the investments will create. The study also includes investment mapping via Google Earth software.

Please email us to receive a copy of the report.

New airport terminal project open for bidding as further tenders continue worrisome

With the situation for key 2014 World Cup airports across Brazil remaining in somewhat of a state of limbo, one important step has been taken this week with the launch of the international tender for the design of the second terminal at Belo Horizonte´s international airport, Confins. The state secretary for economic development Dorothea Werneck announced last Tuesday (4/10) that interested groups and consortia will have until November 23 to lodge their bids, including their credentials, the technical proposal and price, with the selection to be made November 25.

The winning bidder will be responsible for the engineering project, the basic and executive design projects and complementary services, with the work expected to be completed by the end of 2012. The plan is to begin construction in early 2013 with a timeframe of 18 months, finishing right before the 2014 Cup. The airport is expected to host around 20 million passengers per year by 2020. A smaller, ongoing refurbishment of terminal 1 is lifting capacity from the already overloaded 5 million to 8.5 million.

In associated news, the privatisation process for the Sao Paulo, Brasilia and Campinas airports has been delayed and will now not occur until 2012. The three privatisations are the first for Brazil and are considered crucial in preparing these important airports for the 2014 Cup.

Transparency coming as sport ministry talks up Cup progress

Brazilian Minister for Sport, Orlando Silva Jr, has provided an encouragingly positive update on their view of preparations for the 2014 World Cup, claiming that all stadiums and supporting infrastructure are now on track for the event.

In a report released earlier this week, Silva said all Cup-specific construction work in the 12 host cities, including airports, ports and urban mobility upgrades, is expected to be finished ahead of or on schedule.

He also announced the imminent launch of an official site - www.copa2014.gov.br – featuring all official news about the works in progress and other related activities, which should go live this Friday.

Additionally, Silva said they are close to revealing a set of actions to promote Brazil in foreign markets, including a set of projects related to promoting the country’s social, cultural and touristic attractions.

Rio tops in new Brazil investment breakdown

A new report by Brazil´s Ministry of Development, Industry and Exterior Commerce has found that Rio de Janeiro state will receive a whopping US$18.45 billion in national and foreign investment over the coming years, well ahead of the $10.6 billion and $10.4 billion destined for Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo respectively.

The ‘Projects and Investments Announcements Report’ indicates that during 2010 $268.8 billion was announced for Brazil as a whole, with Rio’s lion’s share put down to the ongoing projects involving the major oil discoveries off the state’s coast, with 2016 Olympics preparations, surprisingly, taking a back seat to these massive investments, at least for the moment.

Importantly, major projects are distributed around the state and include: the Açu Superport north of Rio, which will receive investments of US$3.4 billion, Michelin investing $1.1 billion in a tyre plant on the outskirts of the capital, and energy industry engineering specialist Technip’s $700 million investment in the expansion of the port of Angra dos Reis.

Belo Horizonte´s Cup opening contender gets its R$ 400 million

Brazil´s National Development Bank, the BNDES, has approved R$ 400 million in financing to remodel and refit the Governador Magalhães Pinto soccer stadium, known as Mineirão, which remains in contention to host the opening match of the 2014 World Soccer Cup in Brazil.

BNDES stated that the operation is within the scope of the BNDES ProCopa Arenas program, with the funding to be used by the Minas Arena Gestão de Instalações Esportivas S.A., a Special Purpose Enterprise (SPE) comprising the engineering companies Construcap, Egesa and HAP. Beyond the ongoing renovation works the consortium will also manage the stadium for 27 years, in accordance with the Public and Private Partnership (PPP) framework established by the state government.

The renovation project includes the surrounding esplanade, parking lot and footbridge connecting the smaller Mineirinho facility. Sustainable solutions were also incorporated, such as: rain water recycling, natural lighting as well as ventilation and reducing consumption and emissions of energy through geothermal cooling and bioethanol applications. Completion is estimated for December 2012, thus, in time to be eligible to host the Confederations Cup matches, in 2013.

Located in Belo Horizonte, the home of the Brazilian mining industry, Mineirão is Brazil´s second largest stadium in capacity (65,000) and average audience, and is the only arena in Brazil that hosts almost all the matches of two large soccer clubs, Atlético Mineiro and Cruzeiro, which do not have their own stadium. Belo Horizonte is a focal point for Australian companies in Brazil, chiefly because of the mining industry, and is also home to a regional Austrade office, linked directly to Austrade Sao Paulo. The city´s existing links with Australia and its ongoing World Cup preparations present a range of opportunities for Australian groups across a range of sectors including major event planning and services, urban mobility, sustainable development and tourism.

New partnership targets modular infrastructure needs

In a noteworthy move providing pointers on opportunities in the Brazilian sport and major event infrastructure markets, Canada-based ATCO Group, though its ATCO Structures & Logistics arm, has just opened a Rio de Janeiro office to offer modular solutions for sporting event infrastructure and associated requirements.

ATCO´s arrangement is typical of entries into Brazil, forming a joint-venture with Brazil´s Tecno Fast to create Tecno Fast ATCO and open a new sales office in Rio. The office will offer temporary modular solutions for major events in addition to targeting Rio de Janeiro's growing infrastructure needs, including significant investments in transportation, water and sewage systems as the city prepares for the 2014 World Cup and Rio 2016.