Massive infrastructure development in Brazil's Tiete-Parana Valley holds promise for U.S. business

Business America, Dec, 1994 by Laura Zieger-Hatfield

A Joint Development Committee established by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Sao Paulo Development Agency (ADTP) will facilitate U.S. business participation in infrastructure projects, estimated as high as $30 billion, in Brazil's Tiete-Parana Valley. Major business opportunities exist for U.S. firms in the areas of ports and the extension of waterways, construction and expansion of highway and railway lines, independent power production and cogeneration electric power plants, communications systems, sanitation, water and waste water treatment, agribusiness, and tourism.

The U.S.-ADTP Joint Committee was established under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the Commerce Department and ADTP in June 1994 to promote public/private partnership, sustained economic development, and business cooperation. The first U.S.-ADTP Joint Committee meeting was hosted by the U.S. Department of Commerce on November 3-4, 1994, to discuss the infrastructure projects in Brazil's Tiete-Parana Valley. The meeting offered an excellent opportunity for U.S. Government agencies and U.S. business to obtain firsthand information about the emerging commercial prospects in the Tiete-Parana region.

The Tiete-Parana Development Program is led by ADTP, a public/private organization of 60 major businesses, and is supported by six Brazilian state governments. The program is the largest and most ambitious development project ever attempted in South America. The Tiete-Parana Valley, a watershed area which includes the state of Sao Paulo, represents more than 8 percent of Brazil's land mass, and has a population of 50 million with a $5,000 per capita income, accounting for over half of Brazil's gross domestic product. The region is a dynamic growth area with tremendous demand for infrastructure development.

The Tiete-Parana Waterway and its future extension down the Parana and Paraguay river to Buenos Aires will form an efficient bulk cargo highway through the heart of Mercosul, the Southern Common Market comprising the countries of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay. The Waterway is to be the backbone of a regional intermodal transport system that will allow agricultural produce from areas in the centerwest of Brazil, eastern Bolivia, northern Argentina, and Uruguay to reach Atlantic ports cheaply and efficiently, increasing their international competitiveness. Construction of the Brazil/Bolivia natural gas pipeline, anticipated for 1996, will help meet the region's growing energy needs.