With billionaire projects, Japanese react to progress of China in Brazil
Valor Econômico
The Japanese do not impassively watch the approach between the Governments of Brazil and China, as it became evident in the visit of the Chinese President Hu Jintao to Brazil last week for the meeting of the four major emerging countries known as BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, and China): like the Chinese that announced billionaire contracts with Brazilian companies, a Japanese mission, with 20 executives of great companies and great state organizations of Japan, visited Brasília at the end of the week, to negotiate the increase of the Japanese presence in the country.
While the BRICs announced an agreement of intent to coordinate actions of its development banks, the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) which already has similar agreement with the BNDES (National Development Bank), informed the Government that after signing two contracts with Petrobras, one of US$ 1 billion in total, in March, it intends to finance two other projects that add another US$ 1 billion still this year only with the State-owned company.
The persistence of the Japanese companies in relation to Brazil has strong support of the Japanese State; it is not only financial. In May, a mission of Japanese interested in investing in the country in projects of sustainable development will come to Brazil to make contact with the BNDES, Petrobras, Vale and other companies. In September, another mission will visit Japan, with Brazilian companies, sponsored by the Japan External Trade Organization (Jetro). The Japanese recall there are complaints of the entrepreneurs in the country to what are considered Brazilian barriers to investment and trade.
The work of the Japanese in Brazil, as well as that of the Chinese, has the characteristic of strengthening the country as a supplier of raw materials and inputs for the Asian economies. The Japanese have promised US$ 200 million for the West sector of the Road Beltway, in São Paulo, for instance, and they are interested in financing steel projects, especially in Usiminas, in which Nippon Steel is a shareholder. The Japanese themselves recognize there are expectations of change in this model in the medium term, even though the Brazilian Government tries to attract the Japanese for investment in the Brazilian productive Park.