Brazil closes international agreement with the potential to boost GDP by 2.1%

With the potential to boost Brazilian GDP by 2.1% in five years, according to estimates by the National Confederation of Industry (CNI), Brazil signed an agreement with 121 countries this Sunday (25), in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, to facilitate investments between economies with social and environmental obligations.

According to the Ministry of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services (MDIC), the objective is to simplify operations between signatory economies, provide more predictability for investors and promote responsible business conduct in international operations.

“There is great value in establishing minimum global standards for transparency, simplification and facilitation of investments, and prevention of disputes. And in this agreement there are also clauses through which countries are obliged to demand social and environmental commitments from the investor”, explains the Secretary of Foreign Trade, Tatiana Prazeres, who represented the department at the event.

Read more: Government invests in international tour to attract sovereign wealth funds to New PAC

“The Agreement on Facilitation of Investments for Development (AFID) has been in the works since 2017 with strong action from Brazil, which has recognized experience in this area”, says a note from MDCI.

The ministry adds that, since 2012, Brazil has been concluding Investment Cooperation and Facilitation Agreements (ACFI) at a bilateral and regional level. “This experience made the country a key actor in formulating proposals and in the negotiations that took place at the WTO”, he adds.

In addition to the potential to boost GDP, the agreement has the capacity to generate more than 160 thousand jobs and increase investments by 5.9%.

“A survey carried out by the World Bank shows that 82% of investors consulted consider transparency and predictability in the conduct of public bodies as an important or critically important factor in deciding where to invest”, explains the ministry.

Check the list of countries that sign the agreement:

Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Bahrain, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Burundi, Cape Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Congo, Costa Rica, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, European Union (27 countries), Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Hong Kong, Iceland, Indonesia, Japan , Kazakhstan, South Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Liberia, Macau, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Miami, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger , Nigeria, North Macedonia, Norway, Oman, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Suriname, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Thailand, Togo , Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

With information from the government agency