Brazil

• Friday, May 27th 2011 - 22:21 UTC

  Brazilian government promises tax breaks in support of industry

  

  Brazil will respond to the requests from industry and unions to reduce taxes to help boost local manufacturing and thus cut into the growing impetus of imports, promised Vice-President Michel Temer during a seminar sponsored by the powerful São Paulo Federation of Industries, FIESP, together with the two main organized labour unions.

• Friday, May 27th 2011 - 12:38 UTC

  Impact investment fund targeting low-cost housing in Brazil launches in London

  

  Origen Private Equity Ltd., a boutique investment firm headquartered in London, is launching in June what is set to be the first impact investment fund developing low-cost housing in north-east Brazil in conjunction with the Brazilian government's Minha Casa Minha Vida programme.

• Friday, May 27th 2011 - 09:24 UTC

  Pimentel anticipates more ‘active measures’ to defend Brazil’s industry

  

  The Brazilian Government announced that it is considering additional import restrictions on top of the ones already applied to vehicles, as a measure to defend their national industry.

• Thursday, May 26th 2011 - 07:10 UTC

  Argentine/Brazil trade talks stalled but ‘technical negotiations’ were good

  

  Brazilian Industry Secretary Alessandro Teixeira said on Wednesday that no progress has been made so far regarding the trade impasse over Brazil’s import delays for Argentine cars and auto parts, but denied any crisis with Argentina since negotiations are on-going.

• Wednesday, May 25th 2011 - 22:49 UTC

  Brazil’s Vale to invest 2.9bn USD in the country’s largest port by volume

  

  Brazil’s Vale Doce, the world’s biggest iron-ore producer, said it will invest 2.9 billion US dollars to increase the capacity of the Ponta da Madeira terminal in northern Brazil, making it the largest port in the country by volume.

• Wednesday, May 25th 2011 - 07:20 UTC

  Brazil/Argentina agree monthly trade meetings and gradual liberation of licences

  

  Brazil and Argentina agreed to monthly meetings on commerce, Argentina said, as the neighbouring countries try to overcome tensions that flared earlier this month over car imports.

• Wednesday, May 25th 2011 - 06:44 UTC

  Brazil plans to invest heavily in wind farms natural gas fired plants

  

  Brazil which gets about 80% of its energy from hydroelectricity is considering a record investment of 4.1 billion Real (2.5 billion USD) for wind farms this year to diversify its power supply.

• Tuesday, May 24th 2011 - 22:15 UTC

  Sexual health and safe sex tags could be mandatory in Brazilian underwear

  

  Brazil's congress has passed a law that -- if approved by President Dilma Rousseff -- would require sexual health messages to be placed in underwear manufactured and sold in Brazil.

• Tuesday, May 24th 2011 - 18:55 UTC

  Rousseff administration first scandal takes off in Congress and with prosecutors

  

  Brazil's young government faces its first scandal involving presidential chief of staff Antonio Palocci who is under fire for revelations that, while in Congress between 2006 and 2010, his net worth multiplied 20 times.

• Tuesday, May 24th 2011 - 01:01 UTC

  Bank of America expands in Brazil with new commercial license

  

  Bank of America Corp. is expanding in Brazil with a new commercial banking license that will allow it to take deposits and offer cash-management services to corporate clients in the country.