Productivity challenges in Brazil

The Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, kicked off the debate by presenting some of the priority issues of the nation’s microeconomic agenda for the next few years, including bureaucratization and improvement of institutional conditions for businesses, as well as incentives to productivity in order to foster competitiveness. “The challenges are many, but we are working hard in the right direction,” added Guedes. CAF Vice President of Knowledge, Pablo Sanguinetti, also participated in the opening panel.

The EDR report—Institutions for Productivity—was presented by CAF senior vice president, Guillermo Alves, to an audience of around 200 participants, composed mostly of businessmen from all over the country and federal government officials, as well as journalists from national and international media outlets. The report provides evidence of competitiveness issues in the region and the impact on productivity of different countries. To solve them, it is vital to increase the capacities of antitrust agencies, reduce barriers to the incorporation of new companies and boost international trade and regional integration, which are still hindered by tariff and logistical barriers.

CAF private sector vice-president, Jorge Arbache, coordinated the main debate, which featured Marcos Troyjo, Special Secretary for Foreign Trade and International Affairs, Caio Megale, Secretary of Industry Development, Commerce, Services and Innovation, Diogo Mac Cord, Secretary of Infrastructure Development, all from the Ministry of Economy, and the CEO of 3M in Brazil, Marc Copman. The discussion involved issues such as the exchange of experience from countries that managed to improve their productivity conditions, and the sequence of reforms needed to create synergies in order to overcome the time barrier and to reach a positive outcome in improving competitiveness. “If we sense there a chances of growth in a country, we in the private sector will invest. We do not need more funds, but an environment that allows us to grow faster, with better conditions of transparency, streamlined processes and a more competitive production chain,” said Marc Copman.