Like a phoenix rising from the ashes …. so is Brazil reaching out a turning point to be an attractive emerging market again. Temer Administration is wisely focusing the major North-South economic corridor thereby widening the path for joint ventures, M&A operations and venture capital investment in existing domestic organizations as well as in start-ups envisioning “green field” equity holdings.

For that reason, by the Federal Decree nº 8957 enacted on Jan 16, 2017 and enforceable from Jan 17, 2017 on, foreign direct investment will be regarded worthy of getting Governmental guarantee towards loans, credits or funding obtained abroad by companies which the majority of the voting capital stock is owned by non-residents in the country (“FDI Companies”).

On top of that, the FDI Companies shall have access to loan facility agreements granted by credit institutions and/or development banks (by means of example: Banco do Brasil, Caixa Econômica Federal, BNDES and FINEP) once they are ranked as high-interest business for the national economy through the investment inter alia in fixed assets, whenever exploiting certain activity sector and/or seating in specific regions, as defined by the aforesaid regulation.

The encouraged sectors are the following:

(1) infrastructure: exploitation of energy sources, generation, transmission and distribution of energy of whichever nature;  telecommunications of whichever nature; ports and transport systems headed also to cargo and passangers, encompassing the logistics and goods distribution systems; environmental drainage including basic sewage and solid waste management;

(2) industrial and services sites: chemical, petrochemical, encompassing basic chamicals industry, petrochemical, fine chemical, fertilizers, and chemestry based upon renewable sources; mining and mineral transformation;  car industry encompassing automotive and auto parts industries;

(3) sustainable agribusiness and forestry production encompassing the respective supply chain of inputs, producers, processors and distributors, among others, of agricultural goods headed to food, beverage, wooden panels, pulp and paper, and of bioproducts produced from biomass;

(4) capital goods: industries as suppliers of equipment, components and parts;

(5) IT and communications: industrial sites of electronic componentes, telecommunications equipment and automation, manufacturing and distribution of consumer electronics and IT, other electronics equipment and of hardware of whichever nature, development of software solutions and IT services;

(6) oil and natural gas: exploitation and production of hydrocarbons and of its entire production chain inclusive the capital goods industry, other industries, engineering services and other applicable services;

(7) health: manufacturing of inputs and pharmaceutical products, vacines and diagnosis kits, chemical or biotechnology based, the manufacturing of equipment and medical supplies, dental and hospital, health services and clinical and nonclinical tryals;

(8) textile;

(9) graphic and audiovisual infrastructure sites;

(10) tourism sites;

(11) capital goods leasing;

(12) educational services;

(13) energetic efficiency services; and

(14) commerce.

If you would like to know more about that matter please contact Fischer Law Firm and we will be honored to perform joint efforts pursuing to render the customized support you are looking for.