Flaviopédia Português
Brazil that Grows

Brazil in the world

a country integrated with the world is a country that attracts investment and jobs

Proposes resuming OECD accession with a gradual end to the IOF tax on foreign exchange, preparing trade opening, joining global value chains and helping companies go international via BNDES and Apex-Brasil.

In the program: [p. 62, 63] · Translated by Flaviopédia from the official Portuguese text; the Portuguese quote is authoritative. Read the original in Portuguese

What the program says

A country that produces needs to sell to the world and attract those who want to invest here, without becoming anyone’s hostage. Our project balances trade opening with the State’s role of avoiding excessive dependence in critical areas, such as supply and technology chains. It is a diplomacy that recognizes the weight of actors that go beyond States, and that works to deepen Brazil’s integration with the world’s main economic and technological hubs and to advance agreements that expand markets and reduce vulnerabilities. [p. 62]

The most urgent step is to resume the interrupted timetable for accession to the OECD, including the gradual end of the IOF (the federal tax on financial operations) on foreign exchange, which is a mandatory condition of the process. OECD accession is more than a seal: it requires our rules to converge with international standards, improves the governance of state-owned companies, reduces corruption and integrates Brazil into the best global practices. Returning to this benchmark will also make it possible to overcome the relativization of the State-Owned Companies Law carried out in 2023 by court decision, restoring security and predictability to those who invest. And we will prepare for a trade opening that gives the productive sector access to imported capital goods, technology and inputs, in a competitive environment that lowers prices and improves supply to consumers. We will carry out a national plan for integration into global value chains, with real support for the productive sector to gain productivity, prioritizing advanced agro-industry, critical minerals, health and the digital economy, and support the internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises via BNDES (the national development bank) and Apex-Brasil (the trade and investment promotion agency), so that Brazilian products reach further. Our clean energy and sustainability are competitive advantages that underpin this projection: our goal for 2030 is to position Brazil among the world’s main destinations for energy-transition investment, with biofuels, solar energy, wind energy and green hydrogen as levers and diplomacy as a permanent instrument. And we will strengthen Brazilian multinationals, expanding their international presence through economic opening, adherence to OECD rules and mutually beneficial trade agreements. A country integrated with the world is a country that attracts investment, and investment is jobs that reach people on the ground. Our actions will concentrate efforts on fighting organized crime and other threats to national security and defense. We will encourage a broad spectrum of available technologies, with a focus on innovation such as drones and artificial intelligence. Investments in the Armed Forces must be consistent with the standing of a country that is a member of different blocs and groups of nations, aimed at tackling global political and economic challenges. [p. 63]

In plain language

  • The program proposes balancing trade opening with the State’s role of avoiding excessive dependence in critical areas, such as supply and technology chains, and advancing agreements that expand markets and reduce vulnerabilities.
  • It proposes resuming the timetable for OECD accession, including the gradual end of the IOF on foreign exchange. The text states that this would make it possible to overcome the relativization of the State-Owned Companies Law carried out in 2023 by court decision.
  • It provides for preparing a trade opening that gives access to imported capital goods, technology and inputs, and carrying out a national plan for integration into global value chains, prioritizing advanced agro-industry, critical minerals, health and the digital economy. Small and medium-sized enterprises would have support from BNDES and Apex-Brasil to go international.
  • It sets the goal of placing Brazil, by 2030, among the world’s main destinations for energy-transition investment, with biofuels, solar energy, wind energy and green hydrogen. It also provides for strengthening the international presence of Brazilian multinationals.
  • On defense, it proposes concentrating efforts on fighting organized crime and other threats, encouraging technologies such as drones and artificial intelligence and keeping investment in the Armed Forces consistent with the country’s participation in different blocs of nations.

What is not in the program

  • It gives no deadline for completing OECD accession or for ending the IOF on foreign exchange.
  • It does not detail how the trade opening would be carried out or its timetable.
  • It does not name specific trade agreements to negotiate.
  • It does not give amounts for the support via BNDES and Apex-Brasil or for the investments in the Armed Forces.
  • It does not say how the 2030 goal for energy-transition investment would be measured.