São Paulo – Brazil should become a great construction site over the next five years. This statement was made yesterday (26th) by the minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Miguel Jorge, during the International Transport Industry Trade Show (Fenatran), which is taking place in the city of São Paulo.
According to the minister, the greatest volume of constructions should take place due to the international events that the country is going to host, like the 2016 Olympics and the 2014 World Cup. Another booster for this process should be the federal government’s Growth Acceleration Program (PAC), which has a series of works forecasted.
The government should invest in many infrastructure works next year, said the minister. “Brazil should become a construction site over the next five years. There is much to do before the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics,” said Miguel Jorge, recalling that the country spent a long time without investment in infrastructure. “We had forgotten how to plan, and the PAC brought a new level to infrastructure.”
There should also be improvement in highways. To him, the country should invest in more rigid inspection to guarantee that large, medium and small vehciles do not circulate on streets and highways without conditions for this.
"We have been trying to renew the fleet for years. I think it is impossible for the country to pay 1,000 Brazilian reals (US$ 580) for a used car and to get just 800 reals (US$ 470) for scrap metal. We should invest in stricter vehicle inspection and also increase taxes on older vehicles,” said the minister, adding that public banks have money to finance this new fleet.
The minister said that the tender for the high-speed train, connecting the cities of Campinas, in the interior of the state of São Paulo, to Rio de Janeiro, should take place by the end of the year, and that the works should cost approximately US$ 15 billion.
*With information from Agência Brasil. Translated by Mark Ament
