New funding for Brazil’s famous and historic sites

Brazil is justly proud of its rich colonial and historical heritage and the buildings and monuments that are so intriguing to millions of tourists every year.
 

So, in order to develop the concept further, President Dilma Rousseff has announced recently a massive new national investment in the country’s tourist sites, particularly the historic ones. She and her administration feel strongly that there is still a great deal of untapped tourist potential for these areas and they are determined to invest to develop it.
 

On Tuesday 20th August Mrs. Rousseff made a keynote speech on the topic in the old colonial city of Sao Joao del Rei, situated in the state of Minas Gerais. “I have no doubt” she declared “that our historic cities are an extraordinary testimonial to our country and our people.”
 

She went on to explain that her government is committing an investment of more than 1.5 Billion Brazilian Reais to the project (that’s equal to about 660 million US Dollars). The money will be allocated among a number of prime locations and the cities and towns that administer them. The two-year programme will operate in several stages, the first of which to include about 40 different locations throughout the nation.
 

The sites will be allowed and encouraged to spend targeted money not just on restoring buildings and other structures but also associated social and cultural development locations too.
 

The various municipalities, working together with the national government, have already identified 425 historical building and outdoor areas that are in need of restoration, either major or minor.
 

But what exactly are the main (or most popular) tourist sites in Brazil? Opinions differ of course but on anyone’s list the following must surely appear (together with many others).

• The Statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro. This celebrated structure overlooks a huge area, located as it is on top of the seven hundred metre tall Corcovado Mountain. The statue itself, with the famous outstretched arms of the Saviour, is very nearly forty metres tall and is visited by many thousands of people on average every week.
• The Carnival in Rio. This annual event attracts over two million people for each day it performs. Other cities have carnivals too but nothing to rival this.
• Ouro Preto. The name of this colonial gold-rush town means ‘black gold’. It boasts a wealth of churches and municipal buildings dating back to the 1700’s or even earlier.
• The Amazon River. The world’s second longest river (some say the first) at more than four thousand miles long, with its associated hinterland including half the remaining world’s rainforest
• Olinda. A famous historic city on the north-east coast near Recife. Its unique centre is a magnet for all who love Brazil’s architectural heritage

 

Brazilian president gives economic advice to David Cameron

Brazil's president made a opportune, though almost certainly innocent, intervention during Britain's party political conference season when she hailed the significance of stimulating economic expansion.

President Dilma Rousseff, a former Marxist, said it was vital to stimulate the economy during a recession. Standing next to David Cameron, who is pushing an austerity programme in the UK, she delivered a speech at the presidential palace in Brasilia that could gave been written by the Labour party.

Dilma said: "I stressed the importance of expanding efforts with a view to improving the conditions that will prove conducive to a recovery of the international economy, not only as regards developed countries but also as regards emerging countries," said the socialist president.

"I have told the prime minister that Brazil has done its share in efforts to improve the recovery of the world economy by means of stimuli to jobs and growth."

The president lavished praise on Cameron for his successful visit to Brazil, saying she was impressed that he visited all three main cities – São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia.

Cameron responded by supporting Brazil's campaign to have a permanent seat on the UN security council. He said: "As Brazil takes its place on the global stage, so it's case for permanent membership of the UN security council becomes ever stronger. We support Brazilian membership.

Cameron ended his trip to Brazil by launching a treaty to encourage the production of more Anglo-Brazilian blockbuster films. Speaking at his press conference with Rousseff, Cameron said he wanted to see more productions of films such as the James Bond adventure Moonraker that was shot in Rio. Cameron, who claims to be a big Bond fan, said: "In film [we have agreed] a new film co-production treaty which will offer incentives for our budding film makers to work together and make a new generation of blockbusters with those unforgettable moments like Bond hanging over Sugar Loaf Mountain."

The treaty, signed by the trade minister Lord Green and the Brazilian foreign minister Antonio Patriota, was one of 10 treaties signed during his visit to Brasilia

Public Education in Brazil : Over 41 Million now enrolled

According to the Brazilian ‘Diario Oficial da Uniao’ ( official gazette) the preliminary results of the Public Education Census for 2012 are now available. The total shows that very nearly 41.2 million young (or younger) people are now enrolled in publicly-run Preschools, Elementary schools, High schools, Special education and Adult education. Together these include both state and municipal provision and total about 21% of the entire Brazilian population.

As far as the actual school-age population is concerned, the data shows a significant and rising majority of the age group is catered for. This is well on the way to the Government’s target of full education quotas.

Minha Casa Minha Vida One Million Completions

Every Week Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff broadcasts her radio show ‘Café com a Presidente’ (Coffee with the President). Last week the main item was a particularly important one, affordable housing.



'Dilma' was reporting progress on the inspiring Government-sponsored ‘Minha Casa Minha Vida’ scheme ( in which EcoHouse is proud to be a major player). The target is for 3.4 million homes to be completed and delivered to people of modest means by 2014. This will make a really significant dent in the affordable housing deficit in Brazil, something that President Rousseff’s Government and its predecessor has been very concerned to achieve.

As of the end of August this year, the one million deliveries mark has been reached, an important milestone especially as, if anything that target has been reached ahead of schedule.

Higher Returns on Investments attributable to the Strong Position of Women in Brazil

As regards both their position in the economy and also in wider society, there's no doubt that women's contributions in Brazil are even more central and vital than they've ever been. In common with many other countries throughout Latin America, the status of females in the Country has steadily improved in recent decades. Equality is still not widespread however, despite the undoubted advances.

Since the most recent national constitution in 1988, both genders have, at least formally, enjoyed equal status in terms of rights and responsibilities. In practice, however, there are still some big differences between the two sexes. This is especially true in such areas as the economy, employment and public representation, let alone the (slightly!) greater contribution of males in the home. For instance, while it's illegal to discriminate between men and women in terms of wages, salaries and terms of employment, the average female wage tends to be lower in practice than the male one. Across the whole economy, the Labour and Employment Ministry has concluded that, worker-by-worker the average woman is paid about thirty per cent less than the average man on an hourly or yearly basis. Also the types of work undertaken tend to show quite marked gender patterns, despite numerous and growing exceprtions

This is noticeable at all levels. While Brazil has its first female President, Dilma Rousseff, less than ten percent of all other elected politicians at national level are women. The figure is higher at state and/or municipal level but only very slightly. It's a similar story in the judicial system where the UN found that only about five per cent of the most senior lawyers and judges were women. Elsewhere in society and the economy the pattern is an interesting one. Less than forty percent of Brazil's adult women are active, it seems, in the formal economy. But one must be careful because the alternative informal economy of unregistered and unregulated work is estimated to be large and growing.

As far as it can be measured, government statistics have found that most women in work are grouped into just a few main categories. For instance, 17% are occupied in wholesale or retail, 16% as domestic servants and employees in private households, 14% in agriculture or forestry pursuits and twelve percent in manufacturing, both large-scale and small-scale. In addition, a further 13% of women work in community services including health and social services and an additional ten percent in education, heavily concentrated at the low or middle levels of teaching or administration.

A really prominent example, though, of women's progress in recent years is in the field of education. Not only are there more female higher education students than males these days but the overall literacy figures throughout Brazil's society show that women slightly overtake men these days. In both cases the figure is just above 88%. This can only point positively to a workforce even better equipped these days to contribute well to the economy and to the life of the country on a wider scale. There's no doubt that this can only promise good results for returns on investment in Brazil, among many other aspects of this leading BRICS nation.

A highly respected Investment News Website is predicting that investments in Brazil will double over the next 12 Months, Many of these investments will be in the governments own Minha Casa Minha Vida Social Housing programme, meaning it's the ideal time to Invest In Brazil.

Dilma Approves Congestion Pricing

As has been expected for some time, Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff has now approved the new Law of Urban Mobility. It authorises local governments to introduce congestion charging to reduce vehicle traffic.



The twin purposes of the legislation are to reduce toxic emissions from private transport on the one hand and to raise revenue to boost public transport alternatives on the other. Of particular interest too is the increased use of bicycles.


For many years such an approach has been debated in Congress before finally being approved. However, local municipalities have until 2015 to comply and launch their own tailored schemes. This means that the majority of plans will only be in place after the World Cup in 2014.

The new Law will apply to all ‘1600 plus’ towns and small cities in Brazil with populations over 20,000. Any one of them which does not have its local scheme in place by the deadline can incur financial penalties from central Government.

Some see the new Law as being not just excessive but to some extent contradictory as it seems to work directly contrary to other Government initiatives. For example, the National Confederation of Municipalities points out that Brasilia is simultaneously boosting the sale of cars to help the vehicle industry counter the global recession while punishing vehicle usage in urban areas. The organisation’s President, Paul Ziulkoski explained:” While the government encourages cars, this new law authorises the levying of taxes to limit their movement in the cities”.

He went on to explain that there is the strong possibility of conflict between cities as people struggle to have their vehicles registered in areas with comparatively cheaper taxation.

The new Law has obvious implications for investment opportunities in Brazil. There will be clear knock-on effects regarding real estate construction and development costs as well as day-to-day transport expenses for companies and individuals alike.

President Dilma Faces Complex Reshuffle

Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff is facing what is turning out to be a complicated government and cabinet reshuffle this month. In fact, it now looks increasingly likely that it won’t be completed until well into February. Leading as she does a comparatively complex coalition administration, her intention to replace up to eight Ministers is proving complicated. This is because of the potential for competitive squabbling between the various parties.


Not just the general population but those who are looking to (or continuing to) invest in Brazil will be watching developments with great interest.

To an extent, many of the departing Officials will provide few surprises, comprising (as most of them do) just temporary appointees.

They only expected to be in post a few months. They were put in place to take over from the half a dozen disgraced ministers embroiled in scandal in Dilma’s first year in Office.

Actually, one particular minister is keen to depart as soon as possible as he has other plans in prospect. The current Minister of Education, Fernando Haddad, is aiming to run for his Party ( Dilma’s PT) for Mayor of Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest metropolitan area. It’s also the largest one in the whole Southern Hemisphere so would provide Haddad with a major power base for whatever long-term plans he may have after that.

The various knock-on effects for the other changes remain to be finalised although the Education ministry (the most prominent one incontention) will almost certainly be kept by the PT.

One question mark hangs over the number and extent of the Government ministries themselves. Altogether there are thirty-eight portfolios and it's widely believed in some quarters that Dilma will merge or combine more than a few of the smaller ones.