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From the Media

Jan 28, 2020 - Reuters

Brazil's government is changing the rules to give foreign companies an equal shot at winning government contracts, the Economy Ministry said on Monday. Economy Minister Paulo Guedes has pledged to fight corruption and open up one of the world's most protected countries to foreign business and the overseas investment necessary to modernize Brazil's crumbling infrastructure. The new rules will mark a bold change in how foreign companies can operate in a country that has been plagued by corruption. As of May, foreign companies will no longer need a Brazilian representative to take part in public tenders in a market worth an estimated 50 billion reais (US$ 12 billion) a year nor will they be required to have a Brazilian tax identification, he said.

Jan 28, 2020 - Mercopress

Brazil has decided to stay out of OPEC for the time being as it seeks to expand its oil production, according to media reports quoting energy minister Bento Albuquerque. “The idea is just to increase our production and to participate more in the international oil and gas market,” Albuquerque said in an interview. “But this is not a plan for Brazil to join OPEC or any other association or group of oil and gas producers. We don’t want restrictions, we want to increase our production.” This despite the fact that earlier in the month Albuquerque said that Brazil would begin talks with OPEC to discuss joining it later this year. But now the minister said that even if the talks were successful, Brazil would not join the cartel this year.

Jan 28, 2020 - BNAmericas

Brazil could develop 700 MW in offshore wind power projects in waters up to 50m deep, according to a study by federal energy planning firm EPE. The country currently has 15,377 MW of operating onshore wind farms, accounting for 9% of total power generation capacity. The EPE study used the annual average wind speeds and the capacity of turbines used in countries where the market is more developed, such as the UK. Brazil only began discussions on regulations for the offshore wind power industry last year.

Jan 28, 2020 - Yahoo! News

President Jair Bolsonaro, who came to power in January 2019 on a promise to slash red-tape for businesses, has made tax reform a priority this year. It is an ambitious goal that previous governments have failed to achieve. While tax cuts are not an option for the cash-strapped country, modernizing the system is seen as key to spurring economic growth, boosting foreign investment and enabling the private sector to flourish. A medium-sized company in Brazil spends more than 1,500 hours a year preparing and paying taxes, according to the World Bank's latest Doing Business report. It ranked Brazil among the 10 worst countries for paying taxes -- only slightly better than the Congo and Venezuela.