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.

Tourism development opportunities attract funding in Rio

The Rio de Janeiro state government and the Interamerican Development Bank have announced major new investments in the region´s tourism offering in a bid to develop a new inclusive approach to tourism that encourages job creation and ´micro-entrepreneurship´.

The Back has committed US$112 million with the government contributing a further US$ 75 million to the initiative, which falls under the tourism ministry´s Prodetur National program, which aims to strengthen Brazil´s tourism policy and consolidate tourism management in a democratic and sustainable way.

The initiative will be focused on two parts of Rio state, the coastal and the hinterland regions. Key aims include: the strengthening of specialised tourism products, the promotion of tourism commercialisation, strengthened institutional structures, better access infrastructure and socio-environmental management.

The involvement of the IDB marks the first time the Rio government has attracted private sector resources for tourism development. Rio´s tourism secretary estimates that the state will receive more than US$7 billion from the 79,000 tourists expected for the 2014 Cup, and more than US$17 billion from 196,000 visitors for the Olympics.

Cup and Olympics ICT opportunity partnering local Motorola Solutions

Motorola Solutions has announced its intention to organise multi-company consortia to bid for important upcoming tenders in Brazil for the 2014 World Cup and Rio 2016 Olympics.

The group´s Brazilian operations president, Eduardo Stefano, said they are keen to lead the creation of the consortia for specific projects, and will be seeking alliances with integrators, manufacturers and PABX equipment suppliers. They would expect consortia with four to five companies to be required for the upcoming opportunities.

Motorola handled a similar project to those expected for the upcoming major events for the 2007 Pan American Games.

Unraveling Brazil´s logistics challenges

A noteworthy new event that highlighting one of the main hurdles when entering the Brazilian market has been launched by the Dutch Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, with the technical seminar “Distribution in Brazil: Logistics and Fiscal Challenges” sure to unmask a range of important issues facing any foreign business entering the country.

Expanding Westfield gives key insight into Brazil

Australian shopping centre giant The Westfield Group has made a strong move into the Brazilian market through the strategic acquisition of a 50% interest in Almeida Junior Shopping Centers, with Chairman Frank Lowy tellingly pointing out that it is their first new market entry since they entered the United Kingdom in 2000. Lowy added that whilst the climate in the world financial markets is volatile at present, this transaction is in the Group's long term investment and funding plan, and one they have been investigating for an extensive period of time.

Security in spotlight with creation of new agency

The Brazilian federal government has established the framework for a new Special Secretariat of Security for Major Events, which will have responsibility for coordinating federal, state and municipal activities involving public safety during the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup and 2014 World Cup, although the 2016 Rio Olympics remains under the auspices of the Olympic Public Authority.

Training bases important for future business links

Last weekend´s draw for the 2014 World Cup qualifiers in Rio has been accompanied by some important moves by national football federations, including Australia´s, to scope out possible base camp locations for the period leading up to and during the event.

Football Federation Australia took the opportunity to visit a number of suitable facilities, including ones in São José dos Campos, a small city around 100km from São Paulo, mining hub Belo Horizonte, capital of Minas Gerais, and Goiania, capital of Goais, in the very heart of the country.

Beyond offering state-of-the-art training facilities with certain standards defined by FIFA, the base locations must meet a range of criteria in relation to accommodation availability for support staff and media, security and proximity to airports. For further details on the selection process for training centres, click here

For Australia, given the Socceroos continue their recent history of strong qualification campaigns, the base camp location should become a strategic point for additional business links and promotional activities in Brazil.

Apart from training bases, friendly warm-up matches in Brazil against the home team or other countries have also been on the agenda, with England looking at an historic fixture against Brazil to mark the re-opening of the famed Mineirão stadium in Belo Horizonte at the beginning of 2013.

Designing a move into the Brazilian market

The recent decision by a Danish architecture firm to set up its first office in the Americas in the city of Belo Horizonte, capital of the state of Minas Gerais, provides some important pointers and ideas for Australian businesses looking at opportunities in Brazil.

First Rio 2016 training centre set for development

In the first of what promises to be a line of new work opportunities in the Brazilian sport infrastructure sector over the coming years, the state government of Espirito Santo has just signed an agreement with the Brazilian Ministry of Sport to host an official Rio 2016 Olympics training centre.

Paradise also receiving overhaul in tourism hotspots

In a noteworthy display of the wide scope of infrastructure and urban redevelopments going on all around Brazil in preparation for the 2014 World Cup, a city council with no direct link to the event has just announced investments of R$70 million to set itself up as a key alternative tourist destination during the tournament.

Rio test event shows up problem areas

Last week´s 5th Military World Games in Rio de Janeiro have provided a noteworthy glimpse of priority areas for the city as it prepares for the much larger challenge of the Rio 2016 Olympics, and to a lesser extent the 2014 World Cup.

Rio transformation winning new admirers

The city at the heart of 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics infrastructure preparations, Rio de Janeiro, has begun making strong progress as it seeks to use the events and sport to drive a major renovation of the ‘cidade maravilhosa’.

Corinthians´ stadium finally locked in and set for Opening rights

Sao Paulo has finally resolved its stadium situation for the 2014 World Cup with the Itaqueirão project formally approved as the city´s selection. The decision follows Sao Paulo´s mayor Gilberto Kassab approving a law affording fiscal incentives to the stadium development, which is being undertaken by the Corinthians Football Club, one of Brazil´s biggest teams.