...1. What is infrastructure? An infrastructure is the set of items or services that are considered necessary for an organization to function or for an activity to develop effectively. On the other hand, infrastructure is the material basis of a society and which determine the social structure, development and social change thereof, including these levels of productive forces and production relations in it are given. Infrastructure to present a particular society unfolds role of the fundamental UN in regard to development and social change , just because when Change Infrastructure unfailingly changes society as a whole, the relations of power, institutions and obviously also the elements of the superstructure. An infrastructure is also important,...
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...CRISIL Young Thought Leader 2011 INDIA’S INFRASTRUCTURE – A BOON OR A BANE Shantanu Kumar Final Year, IRMA, Ahmedabad Page |2 Executive Summary “Infrastructure” has almost been a go-to word for anyone who is discussing about the ways of sustaining India’s economic growth, and with good reason. A casual look at the growth figures of the individual states shows the existence of a direct relationship between the quality of infrastructure and the performance of the state. The states with the best infrastructure attract businesses which creates employment which in turn helps their economy grow. This paper looks at the current scenario in some of the most important sectors and tries to compare it with countries which are widely known to be on the same economic trajectory, viz. Brazil, Russia, China and Mexico. The paper finds that although the progress has been slow, the government has made an attempt to kick start the investment in infrastructure either itself as in creation and maintenance of schools under “Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan” or through the PPP model as done in several highway projects. The issues arising due to poor infrastructure set India’s annual GDP growth back by as much as 1.5% - 2%. This paper shows that the government funding has remained almost constant in most sectors and their increase is unlikely owing to the high fiscal deficit. Hence it is the private investment which will have to fund the infrastructure projects. The government of India recognises...
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...Strategic Issues 1. Infrastructure – Favelas have little government support and create their own. Electricity The majority of Rocinha residents pay for electricity. However, there are still people who have “gatos” or illegal hook ups to the grid. According to Favela resident and blogger Zezinho “When I was a kid, it was all illegal but now we have a formal company called “LIGHT” which is a Brazilian/Canadian company which provides formal electricity to about 85% of the residents. I receive a bill every month and I pay between 20 to 50 reais a month depending on how much energy I use” (Zezinho). The electrical infrastructure for supporting Rocinha is not what we would expect in the US. Power lines seem unorganized and heaped together. This is due to the organic nature in which power came to the Favela. Historically, it was stolen from the grid through makeshift lines. Now those lines are still utilized for paying customers. The service has improved, but the infrastructure is still chaotic. Water Looking out over the rooftops of the Favela, you notice the blue water tanks. Most residents have water pumped into these tanks weekly. There is a freshwater spring that feeds the water supply, but it becomes tainted as it travels through the various pipes. Most people drink bottled water and use the water tanks for cooking, bathing, etc. In Zezinho’s experience, “ Where I live, I get water pumped into my tank once a week, so conservation of water is important. Water is free...
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...TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE IN BRAZIL AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF DEVELOPMENT FAILURE 5335 Wisconsin Ave NW Suite 440 Washington, DC 20015 tel 202.274.1830 fax 202.274.1831 James Gregoire Copyright © February 2011 www.nexusinfrastructure.com Transport Infrastructure In Brazil and the Consequences of Development Failure CONTENTS ABSTRACT .........................................................................................................................................................1 I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................................1 A. Airports ................................................................................................................................................4 B. Roadways .............................................................................................................................................5 C. Rail ..........................................................................................................................................................7 D. Ports ......................................................................................................................................................8 E. Summary .............................................................................................................................................9 III. SPECIAL FACTORS ..................................
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...oing Business in Brazil * Market Overview * Market Challenges * Market Opportunities * Market Entry Strategy Market Overview The Federative Republic of Brazil is Latin America's biggest economy and is the fifth largest country in the world in terms of land mass and population with about 192 million people. Brazil’s economy, the 6th largest in the world, grew 2.7% in 2011. Growth slowed due to reduced demand for Brazilian exports in Europe and Asia, despite solid domestic demand and a growing middle class. During the past decade, the country has maintained macroeconomic policies that controlled inflation and promoted economic growth. Inflation was at 6.5% in 2011, and urban unemployment reached a historic low of 6.0%. Interest rates, though high compared to the rest of the world, remained historically low at the Central Bank benchmark rate of 8.0% as of July 2012. In 2011, the U.S. was Brazil’s largest source of imports followed by China, Argentina, Germany, and South Korea. U.S. merchandise exports to Brazil in 2011 were US$42.9 billion, and U.S. imports from Brazil were US$31.3 billion. Market Challenges Brazil has a large and diversified economy that offers U.S. companies many opportunities to export their goods and services, and U.S. exports are increasing rapidly. Doing business in Brazil requires intimate knowledge of the local environment, including both the explicit as well as implicit costs of doing business (referred to as the “Custo Brasil”)...
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...Introduction Brazil is the economic leader in South America. It is located in eastern South America bordering the Atlantic Ocean. Almost 85% of South American countries border Brazil. Most of the country is located below the equator and it has a total area of 8,511,965 square kilometers (Brazil Facts) making it the fifth largest country in the world behind the U.S. Brazil has a distinctive topography, in the north and west you can find the Amazon Basin with tropical-like weathers. Brazil is also facing deforestation losing about 52,000 square miles of amazon each year. In the south east of the country you will find its highlands and plateaus. Brazil also has a distinctive climate. The climate is generally classified into five subtypes: equatorial, tropical, semiarid, highland tropical and subtropical but 90% of the country is mostly considered tropical. (Climates of Brazil) Social Economic and Cultural Factors As for being the fifth largest country in the world land wise, Brazil is also the fifth largest country when it comes to population. According to the CIA Brazil’s population in 2012 was over two hundred million. 26.2% of the population in 2011 is between 0-14 years of age, 67% of the population in 2011 is between 15-64 years of age, and 6.7% of the population in 2011 is 65+ years of age.(CIA Fact book) Because Brazil was colonized by the Portuguese the primary language in this country is surprisingly Portuguese! Other slightly common languages you might also hear are...
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...country has the possibility to overcome the situation of exclusion from the digital world for a large portion of its population (approximately 28 million Brazilians have internet access, the highest rate in Latin America), due to an increase in telephone services, particularly in the case of prepaid mobile telephones. In addition, the development of a specific model of digital television makes the Brazilian market a gigantic laboratory for the use of applied technology. Furthermore, Brazil has the largest and most diversified system of science, technology and innovation in Latin America, a result of the accrual of accomplishments in the last 50 years, which include the capacity for oil prospection in deep waters and the ability to build aircrafts. Furthermore, the country invests in space and nuclear programs, as well as in new areas currently at the border of knowledge, such as nanoscience, nanotechnology and biotechnology. Infrastructure and partnerships Within the area of infrastructure, due to the urgency in the social agenda, the demand for modernization is shared between the State and capital from the private sector, in initiatives known as Public-Private Partnerships (PPP). In the Transport sector, the country is improving a multi-modal model and investing in the extension and modernization of passageways integrating airports, ports, railways and waterways. In addition, R$1.3 billion is being invested in 65 airports with the sole intention of increasing popular and...
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...Brazil is amongst the leading developing nations and has sustained a decent economic growth for years (Alfaro & White, 2013). This commodity boom gave rise to the country’s export. However, the “Custo Brasil” was harming domestic manufacturing, while foreign opportunities threatened to overwhelm Brazilian marketplaces. The Custo Brasil has become the biggest factor in declining competitiveness of the country followed by poor infrastructure and undeveloped education system. According to Alfaro & White (2013), “poor infrastructure further hindered national growth.” In 2009, Brazil’s (2013) investment-to-GDP ratio dropped causing some analysts to suspect that weak infrastructure investment would be a future “bottleneck to growth.” Under the leadership of Dilma Rouseff, Brazil’s economic growth had gone stale and Rouseff’s administration battled to get the best balance between reducing inflation, maintaining exchange rate, and enhancing the competition of its exports. The government expenditures (2013) consume more than 40 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Its overall pace of regulatory reform had slowed and the ax burden is much heavier than other emerging economies. It could be government corruption, insecurity of private property rights, or it’s dependent on commodity exports. Rouseff and her administration worked to improve competitiveness by addressing the issue of improving infrastructure. Its strategy was the public-private partnership aiming to provide jobs...
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...the reasons for investments on infrastructure by the private sector. Today, there are prisons, water supply, roads, airports and other activities that request a high investment managed by the private sector. It can be done through concessions, privatization or public-private partnerships (PPP). About the private investments on airports, ICAO has allowed the less interference by the states at the airport administration. So, this paper proposes to demonstrate that the application of public private partnership at Brazilian airports is worthwhile. KEY WORDS: airport; privatization; public private partnerships Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1506109 INFRASTRUCTURE The definition of infrastructure varies from country to country and in the doctrinal field. As for the countries, governmental policy defines what is basic, essential and crucial for the development of the nation. The doctrine splits infrastructure into economic and social, being subdivided into hard and soft (Grimsey & Lewis, 2004). Economic infrastructure is considered the one providing intermediate services for business and industry, and aims to optimize production and innovation initiatives. Social infrastructure, on the other hand, consists in providing basic services for the families, optimizing quality of life and the wellbeing of the community. The chart below is an example of the classification mentioned (Grimsey & Lewis, 2004): Table 1. Infrastructure classification...
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...Brazil Brazil is one of South America’s most influential and powerful Countries, and leading its cause to become one of the world’s most influential counties. Brazil is one of the BRICS countries. BRICS refers to Brazil Russia India China and South Africa becoming economic figures due to their newly advanced economic development. Much of brazil’s increase in wealth comes down to the vast amount of natural resources in the country such as Iron ore a resource craved by many large manufacturing nations, furthering this Brazil has recently been able to capitalise on their offshore oil resources allow them to become self-sufficient for energy an area where they previously struggled and relied heavily on other nations. Gross National Income (GNI) refers to the level of economic activity produced in a country in any one year. Since 2007 Brazils GNI per capita (per person) has nearly doubled, from $6,100 in 2007 to $11,630 in 2012 with a yearly rise around currently around 5% very much likely to continue. (data from http://data.worldbank.org/country/brazil ) This increase in both GNI and GNI per capita shows Brazils continuing success and development. Brazil currently have a GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of $2.45 trillion meaning its ranked 6th in the world charts a massive growth of a once mass poverty stricken undeveloped country (data from http://www.statisticbrain.com/countries-with-the-highest-gdp/ ). The main cause of the GNI increased levels along with its vast levels of natural...
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...strategies. Scenario planning may involve aspects of Systems thinking, specifically the recognition that many factors may combine in complex ways to create sometime surprising futures (due to non-linear feedback loops). The method also allows the inclusion of factors that are difficult to formalize, such as novel insights about the future, deep shifts in values, unprecedented regulations or inventions. Systems thinking used in conjunction with scenario planning leads to plausible scenario story lines because the causal relationship between factors can be demonstrated. In these cases when scenario planning is integrated with a systems thinking approach to scenario development, it is sometimes referred to as structural dynamics. Telecom Infrastructure Telecom services had traditionally been provided by the Public Sector. Penetration of telecom has been slow in India as compared to China which has...
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...Introduction The FIFA World Cup in Brazil took place from the 12th of June to the 13th of July 2014. Attracting approximately one million foreign tourists in just one month (Loretta, 2014) it was without a doubt the major global sporting event of the year. Discussions about holding such an event in yet another developing country where controversial from the start and with regard to the 2016 Olympic Games also held in Brazil, they still are. In this essay I want to evaluate to what extent Brazil as a tourism destination benefitted from the World Cup – or not – and how this affects the destination in the long term. Therefore, I firstly provide three positive impacts on Brazil, of economic, social and environmental nature. This is followed by three negative impacts, divided into the same categories. This is followed by an application of theory about hallmark events and a future perspective of Brazil as a tourist attraction. In the end, I conclude this essay by summarizing the main aspects and giving my personal opinion on the developments described before. Body If we compare the total revenue of the World Cup with the total costs of the tournament, coming from investments such as infrastructure or stadium construction, we can calculate that the economical boost should be around 2.6 Billion Dollars (Harris, 2014). Also, the fact that one million foreign tourists were travelling the country in this period may not be underestimated. A positive experience of local culture and interaction...
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...Beauty of Business in Brazil Unknown to so many, South America is a very robust and expanding region with a population reaching close to 200 million native people as well as foreign population. South America has a very tropical climate, and the primary language in South America is Portuguese. Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world, and the largest country in Latin America. Brazil is an economically growing country located in northeastern part of South America. Brazil gained its independence from Portugal in 1822. Years later, in 1888 slavery was abolished in the nation. The next year in 1889, The Brazilian Republic was established. Brazil is well-known as the world’s leader in coffee production and exportation. Brazil produces one third of the world’s total coffee production. The country has held this position in the coffee market for 150 years. In 1982, Brazil held the world’s largest debt at the time. In 1986, the country put forth a plan to control inflation (BBC News. 2012). The country has come a long way since last century. Brazil’s economy is now ranked seventh in the world related to nominal GDP and the seventh largest in terms of purchasing power and value of the Brazil’s currency. In 2012, the country’s gross domestic product was 2.253 trillion US dollars. According to BBC News, Brazil’s economy growth has doubled from the expected rate in the final quarter of 2013. This growth was surprising considering the Countries economy declined slightly...
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...Brazil under Lula: Off the Yellow BRIC Road In 2001 Goldman Sachs had created the term “BRIC” to denote the group of emerging economies with high growth potential, including Brazil, Russia, India and China. But Brazil was the underperformer of the group and had some of the worst business-environment indicators among BRIC countries. “The second Lula administration is committed to a strategy of faster economic growth and higher living standards based on investment promotion, redistributive policies and higher levels of education”. For that Lula solicited his ministers for tax-reform proposals and fiscal incentives that could boost capital investments, mostly in infrastructure, to achieve growth rates of 5% per year. During his first term Lula reduced poverty and income inequality. Lula´s cash-transfer programs reduced the number of poor people significantly and brought down the Gini coefficient of income inequality to its lowest level in recent history. Lula maintained a policy of price and exchange rate stability, increased government savings, paid off the balance owed to the IMF and managed to reduce interest rates steadily. In order to grow like China and India, Brazil would have to tackle “the Brazil cost”: * To reduce the size and importance of the informal sector * Correct some macroeconomics deficiencies (e.g the high real interest rate and a high government debt to GDP ratio) * Reduce red tape * Improve the quality of public services (e.g education...
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...Economic Revival June 2012 June 2012 © Confederation of Indian Industry Copyright © 2011 by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. CII has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of information presented in this document. However, neither CII nor any of its office bearers or analysts or employees can be held responsible for any financial consequences arising out of the use of information provided herein. However, in case of any discrepancy, error, etc., same may please be brought to the notice of CII for appropriate corrections. Published by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), The Mantosh Sondhi Centre; 23, Institutional Area, Lodi Road, New Delhi-110003 (INDIA), Tel: +91-11-24629994-7, Fax: +91-11-24626149; Email: info@cii.in; Web: www.cii.in Confederation of Indian Industry The Mantosh Sondhi Centre 23, Institutional Area , Lodi Road, New Delhi – 110 003 Tel.: 011-24621874, 24629994-97 : Fax: 011-24626149 Website:www.cii.in Edited, printed and published by: Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII on behalf of Confederation of Indian Industry from The Mantosh Sondhi Centre, 23, Institutional Area, Lodi Road, New Delhi –110 003 Tel: 91-11-24629994-7 Fax: 91-11-24626149 email:...
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