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.