Cablegate: Ustda Director Travels to Brazil, Meets with Minister Of

VZCZCXRO6094
RR RUEHRG
DE RUEHBR #1624/01 2211845
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 091845Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6293
INFO RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 2623
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 5242
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 7684
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 4180
RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 5575
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 6388
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 5667
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA 3112
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 3375
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 1923
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ 4761
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 3872
RUCPDO/USDOC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRASILIA 001624

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE PASS USTR
USDOC FOR 4332/ITA/MAC/WH/OLAC/MWARD
USDOC FOR 3134/ITA/USCS/OIO/WH/RD/SHUPKA
USTDA FOR AMCKINNEY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETRD BEXP KIPR EIND BR
SUBJECT: USTDA DIRECTOR TRAVELS TO BRAZIL, MEETS WITH MINISTER OF
TRANSPORTATION

1. Summary. (U) In a mid-July three-day visit to Brazil, USTDA
Director Thelma Askey met with government leaders, industry
officials and businessmen in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and
Brasilia. In addition, Ms. Askey signed four grants, totaling
nearly US$2 million, in support of priority Brazilian development
projects using private sector expertise and technology. These grant
agreements cover such diverse areas as technical assistance on
emergency preparedness, water treatment, occupational health, and
cargo handling. In addition to the grant agreements, USTDA and
Brazil's National Development Bank (BNDES) signed a memorandum of
understanding committing the two agencies to working together.
Finally, USTDA formally entered in a public-private partnership with
AmCham Sao Paulo to support a training seminar on IPR protection for
the state's IPR enforcement officers. All these activities help
further the goal expressed by the President during his November 2005
meeting with President Lula to increase bilateral trade.
Specifically, USTDA efforts will be key in implementing the
Commercial Dialogue initiated by Secretary Gutierrez and Minister of
Development, Industry, and Commerce Furlan in June 2006. End
Summary.

2. (SBU) During the course of her July 20 stay in Brasilia, Ms.
Askey met with both local AmCham officials and Minister of
Transportation Paulo Sergio Passos and his aides. At the latter
meeting, Askey was accompanied by USTDA Policy/Program Director
Geoffrey Jackson, USTDA Brazil Country Officer Anne McKinney, post's
Deputy Senior Commercial Office and Charge. Passos opened the
session by noting that his Ministry was working feverishly to
improve Brazil's lagging port, road, and railroad infrastructure.
The Ministry was in the process of putting together a national
transport and logistics plan, focused on the principal lines of
action in the short, medium, and long-term (i.e., out to the year
2023). The plan was to be completed in December 2006, and was
designed to serve as a guide for the next president - whether that
be a reelected Lula administration or an opposition government.
(Note: This is not unusual. Under the GOB's 4-year planning cycle,
each presidential administration is responsible for establishing
goals/objectives for the last three years of its term plus the first
year of the next government.)

3. (SBU) Passos stated that his Ministry was looking at how to move
forward several priority projects, inter alia, expansion of the Port
of Santos. The largest port in Latin America, with a capacity of 72
million tons a year, Santos was to be upgraded to an eventual
capacity of 120 million tons a year through a three-phase
construction program. Other key projects included expansion of the
port of Itaqui in Northeastern Brazil, which currently mainly
handles mining exports, so that it could also be used as a conduit
for soybeans. In addition, the deep-water port of Sepetiba, near
Rio de Janeiro, could be turned into a hub port if loading
facilities, road access and railroad access were improved. Instead
of handling principally minerals, as it does now, it could become
one of the largest export platforms in Brazil, Passos declared.
Finally, Passos said that the Ministry was considering how best to
up grade the rail network in the western interior of Bahia state and
that it would need a feasibility study done to consider its options.
The Bahia rail project, he added, eventually could become one of
the GOB's public-private partnership programs.

4. (SBU) Askey and Jackson outlined for their Brazilian
interlocutors USTDA's expertise in infrastructure issues and noted
that the agency had done much work in the past related to trade
capacity (i.e., tracking cargo containers, streamlining customs
clearance, etc). Passos expressed interest in USTDA's services and
stated that this staff would be in touch with that agency's experts.
Other possible areas for GOB-USTDA cooperation, he continued, could
include the dredging of ports, improvement of the country's road
network, and assistance with environmental studies.

5. (U) Post stands ready to assist in the full range of USTDA
activities in Brazil.

6. (U) This cable was cleared by the USTDA delegation prior to

BRASILIA 00001624 002 OF 002

transmission.

Sobel

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