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Demographics are a headwind for emerging markets – BlackRock

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A decline in labour growth and expected fall in the working age population will be a drag on emerging economies already suffering from fading growth prospects, BlackRock’s Global Head of Emerging Markets Amer Bisat told Reuters.

Global population growth over the past five decades fuelled a surge in labour and a rapid increase in gross domestic product in many emerging economies but Bisat said demographics were no longer a boon for the countries.

The changing demographics come against a backdrop of higher global interest rates and levels of debt which add to pressure on developing economies, with capital accumulation in emerging markets set to be “tough”, said Bisat, who leads a team managing approximately $35 billion at the world’s largest asset manager.

By Jorgelina Do Rosario and Karin Strohecker via Reuters

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Brazilian banks urged to crack down on meatpackers tied to deforestation

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Brazilian banks are being asked to meet minimum information requirements to help combat illegal deforestation when offering credit lines to meat processors, the Brazilian Federation of Banks (Febraban) said on Tuesday.

The group said the move is tied to rules approved by its self-regulation council to foster “sustainable finance” in Brazil, the world’s biggest beef exporter.

Banks that agree to participate in the scheme will be required to ask meat processors in the legal Amazon and Maranhao regions to implement a traceability and monitoring system that will allow them to demonstrate by December 2025 that their cattle purchases don’t come from areas of illegal deforestation.

By Paula Arend Laier via Reuters

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Brazil says UN confirmed Amazonian city of Belem as COP30 host

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Brazil’s government said on Friday the United Nations has confirmed the Amazonian city of Belem as the host of the COP30 climate change summit in November 2025.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva made the announcement in a video alongside his foreign relations minister and the governor of Para state, where Belem is located.

“I’m convinced it is going to be a great event,” said Lula, who had previously pledged to try to bring the U.N. climate talks to a city in the world’s largest rainforest.

Via Reuters

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Brazil economists lower forecast for 2023 inflation -Reuters poll

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Private economists in Brazil have lowered their expectation for the country’s inflation index, with a new central bank survey on Monday showing they now forecast it to hit 5.80% at the end of this year.

The new median forecast comes down from 6.03% in the previous week and might ease some concern from policymakers, who have highlighted rising inflation expectations as one of the reasons for high interest rates in the country.

Finance Minister Fernando Haddad told reporters after the poll was released that market forecasts were now “in line” with projections from the ministry’s economic policy secretariat.

Via Reuters

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US Embassy in Brazil releases instructional video on the ‘importance of using neutral pronouns’

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The U.S. Embassy in Brasília, Brazil, published a video teaching the “importance” of using gender-neutral pronouns, including “xe/xem” and “ze/hir.”

The video was posted to the Embassy’s social media on Wednesday for the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. The video description said there is a “range of gender identities beyond male and female” and that it is not possible to know a person’s gender based on appearance.

The speaker in the video, who said his name is Mark, noted that his pronouns are he and him before explaining why people should not assume someone else’s pronouns.

By Landon Mion via Fox News

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Brazil’s government establishes committee for sustainable sovereign bond issuance

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Brazil’s government created on Wednesday an interministerial committee to develop a framework for issuing “sustainable sovereign bonds” aiming to launch a bond later this year.

These new bonds will be “instruments of public debt backed by federal government budget allocations for sustainable development,” including actions and projects related to environmental and social themes, according to the Finance Ministry.

While there is no specific date for the framework’s release, the ministry expects the process to be completed in time for sustainable bonds to be issued later this year, it said in a statement.

Via Reuters

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Global debt on the rise, EM crosses $100 trillion mark – IIF

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A measure of debt across the globe rose in the first quarter to almost $305 trillion, and the rising cost to service that debt is triggering concern about the financial system’s leverage, a widely tracked study showed.

The Institute of International Finance, a financial services trade group, said on Wednesday global debt rose by $8.3 trillion in the first three months of this year compared to the end of 2022 to $304.9 trillion, the highest since the first quarter of last year and second-highest quarterly reading ever.

“Global debt is now $45 trillion higher than its pre-pandemic level and is expected to continue increasing rapidly,” said the IIF in its quarterly Global Debt Monitor.

By Rodrigo Campos via Reuters

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‘Sounding the alarm’: World on track to breach a critical warming threshold in the next five years

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The world is now likely to breach a key climate threshold for the first time within the next five years, according to the World Meteorological Organization, due to a combination of heat-trapping pollution and a looming El Niño.

Global temperatures have soared in recent years as the world continues to burn planet-warming fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas. And that trend shows no sign of slowing. In its annual climate update, the WMO said that between 2023 and 2027, there is now a 66% chance that the planet’s temperature will climb above 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming above pre-industrial levels for at least one year.

As temperatures surge, there is also a 98% likelihood that at least one of the next five years – and the five-year period as a whole – will be the warmest on record for the planet, the WMO reported.

By Laura Paddison and Jessie Gretener via CNN

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Brazil retail sales smash market forecasts in March

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Brazil’s retail sales smashed market estimates in March, growing more than the highest forecast in a Reuters poll of economists, in a positive reading for the country’s broader first-quarter economic performance despite high interest rates.

Retail sales rose 0.8% in the month compared with February, data from statistics agency IBGE showed on Wednesday, largely beating consensus of a 0.8% drop in a Reuters poll of 13 economists, which had a 0.2% gain as maximum expectation.

Via Reuters

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How to Read a Business Book

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More than 1,000 new business books are released each month in the United States alone. The good ones represent original contributions to theory and practice or provide meaningful extensions or applications of those theories and practices. The others tend to present recycled and superficial treatments of those original contributions. So how can you ensure not only that you’re reading a book that’s worth your time, but that you’re getting the most out of that time? The author presents eight ways to allocate your reading time to your greatest advantage through careful selection based on need, triaging the mode of consumption, and harvesting the takeaways for application.

Reading a business book is an exercise in efficiency, not literary aesthetics. You’re trying to maximize the return on time invested. For the executive, time allocation is as important as capital allocation. So, in approaching any business book, there are two goals: First, determining if the book can help you do your job; second, figuring out the quickest way to extract that value. In writing several business books — and reading more than I can count — I’ve found that, for books worth reading, the process consists of three steps: compression, absorption, and application.

By Timothy R. Clark via Harvard Business Review

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IMF backs Brazil’s fiscal reform, ‘ambitious’ green agenda

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The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday said it “strongly supports” Brazil’s efforts to improve the country’s fiscal position, while also commending the country’s “ambitious agenda” to have a sustainable, inclusive, and green economy.

“Enhancing Brazil’s fiscal framework, broadening the tax base, and tackling spending rigidities would support sustainability and credibility,” the leader of an annual mission to the country, Ana Corbacho, said in a statement after the Fund’s visit.

Brazil’s finance ministry in late March unveiled new fiscal rules to balance limits on spending growth under the administration of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has vowed to boost social programs and public investment.

By Brendan O’Boyle and Carolina Pulice Via Reuters

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As melhores universidades brasileiras, segundo ranking mundial

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Brasil tem 54 instituições de ensino superior entre as 2 mil mais bem classificadas pelo Center for World University Rankings; USP, Unicamp e UFRJ são as melhores colocadas

Entre as 54 universidades brasileiras classificadas na lista das 2 mil melhores do mundo pelo CWUR (Center for World University Rankings), 29 tiveram queda em suas posições em relação ao ranking do ano passado. A Universidade de São Paulo lidera como a melhor universidade da América Latina, mesmo tendo caído da 103ª posição para a 109ª neste ano. Assim, nenhuma instituição de ensino superior brasileira está entre as 100 melhores do mundo.

O CWUR, que avaliou mais de 20 mil universidades ao redor do mundo, também ranqueia as instituições de acordo com educação, empregabilidade, docência e pesquisa. As universidades brasileiras tiveram maior queda no âmbito de pesquisa, principalmente pelos cortes de financiamento de bolsas de pesquisa e do orçamento das instituições. Nesse quesito, por exemplo, a UFRJ (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro) caiu 14 posições, enquanto a Unesp (Universidade Estadual Paulista) teve queda de 5.

By Gabriela Guido via Forbes Brasil

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Rich world has three ways to win over global South

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The Group of Seven rich countries needs a stronger pitch to non-aligned nations. A strategy based on peace, prosperity and protecting the planet could work. It would certainly be more effective than delivering lectures on democracy.

Leaders of the world’s rich democracies, who gather later this week in Hiroshima, already have a lot on their plate dealing with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, higher inflation, and the rising challenge from China. Nevertheless Japan, which is hosting the summit, has made “outreach to the global South” one of the gathering’s two priorities along with “upholding the international order based on the rule of law”. This makes sense, partly because the topics are linked.

Many developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America have largely stayed on the sidelines during the Ukraine war, even if they initially condemned Russia’s invasion. They are unlikely to impose sanctions on China following an invasion of Taiwan, let alone join any military action to defend the island. But if more developing countries spoke up to condemn violations of international law, the People’s Republic might be more reluctant to contemplate aggression against Taipei.

By Hugo Dixon via Reuters

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Astronomy Tool Can Now Detect COVID in Breath

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Laser-based optical frequency combs, originally developed to time atomic clocks, can also perform fast, noninvasive tests for COVID—and potentially other diseases as well

Astronomers and physicists have long used a laser-based sensor called an “optical frequency comb” to study the material makeup of the cosmos and to make timekeeping more accurate. But the COVID pandemic has pushed this versatile tool from the world of space and physics into health care.

By Starre Vartan via Scientific American

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Yellen warns US default would threaten global economy, undermine its leadership

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U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Thursday urged Congress to raise the $31.4 trillion federal debt limit and avert an unprecedented default that would trigger a global economic downturn and risk undermining U.S. global economic leadership.

Yellen issued the latest in a series of increasingly stark warnings in remarks prepared for a press conference ahead of a meeting in Japan with her counterparts from the Group of Seven (G7) rich nations, as well as India, Indonesia and Brazil.

By Andrea Shalal via Reuters

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Yellen highlights common goals with Brazil on climate, development

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U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen highlighted the fight against climate change and other goals shared by the United States and Brazil, in a meeting with Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad in Japan on Thursday.

Japan, chairing the Group of Seven advanced economies this year, invited Brazil to take part in this week’s meeting of G7 finance ministers and central bankers, along with India, Indonesia and the African Union. Brazil will lead the Group of 20 major economies next year.

Yellen welcomed Brazil’s participation, saying the U.S. and Brazil, the largest democracies in the Americas, stood united in upholding their democratic values at home and abroad.

By Andrea Shalal via Reuters

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How to Disagree Productively

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Disagreements don’t have to be destructive. They can be opportunities to come up with better ideas. But handling conversations with someone with a conflicting point of view is far from easy. Three strategies, which the authors identified in their research, can help.

From whether to embrace hybrid work to whether to introduce quotas for women or minorities at various levels in the organization, executive leadership teams across different companies we advise have been talking through polarizing issues. In many of those discussions, leaders often engaged in heated arguments with one another that were not that productive. As a result, they left the meetings feeling hurt and dissatisfied.

By Hanne K. Collins, Charles A. Dorison, Francesca Gino, and Julia A. Minson via Harvard Business Review

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What the NHS is learning from Brazil

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Knocking on doors to check on people’s health and catch problems before they escalate is common practice across Brazil. But could that approach work in the UK?

Comfort and Nahima are on their regular beat around Churchill Gardens, a council estate in the Pimlico neighbourhood of London.

Dressed in blue fleeces with logos, they steadily climb the concrete staircases of each block on the estate.

By Naomi Grimley via BBC News

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Leaders, Sharing Your Own Mental Health Story Can Help You Become a Better Ally

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Celebrities and athletes have increasingly been speaking out about their mental health over the last several years, but organizational leaders have only just started. To fully catalyze societal change and normalize mental health challenges and seeking support, workplaces must also play a part. When leaders of all levels share their personal stories, it reduces stigma and normalizes the ups and downs of being human — especially as a high-performing professional. This type of role-modeling positions vulnerability as a strength instead of a weakness and shows it’s possible to succeed and thrive with a mental health challenge. The author presents best practices for how to tell your leader ally story — and why it matters.

More than a decade ago when I had to take a leave of absence due to generalized anxiety disorder and depression, I thought my career was over. I was struggling — drowning in shame, self-stigma, and fear of professional repercussions as I did my best to hide what was happening. What would have given me hope was knowing other leaders had successfully navigated mental health challenges.

By Kelly Greenwood via Harvard Business Review

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Entenda o PL da inteligência artificial e como ele impacta as empresas

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Popularizada pelo ChatGPT, da OpenAI, a inteligência artificial tornou-se o principal tema de tecnologia dos últimos meses. Na quarta-feira, 3, o presidente do Senado, Rodrigo Pacheco apresentou um projeto de lei que regulamenta o uso da IA. De acordo com Márcio Chaves, sócio do escritório Almeida Advogados, o PL materializa a tendência mundial de regulamentação do tema inteligência artificial, “de inegável necessidade diante da ausência de regras que ajudem a mitigar os riscos tanto com o atual status da tecnologia, mas principalmente de um futuro a curto e médio prazo que temos com os avanços tecnológicos que são exponenciais.”

Ainda de acordo com Márcio, o texto tem como principal ponto positivo o estabelecimento de obrigações, que na legislação de hoje ainda são vistos mais como recomendações e boas práticas. “De seguir princípios para o uso seguro e ético da inteligência artificial, avaliando e documentando previamente ao desenvolvimento e ao uso da inteligência artificial, de agir de forma preventiva, pois o remediar pode não ser possível ou suficiente. Mas carece de adequações, como por exemplo a inclusão dentre as hipóteses de limitação da responsabilidade civil por danos causados, para desenvolvedores e utilizadores de inteligência artificial que seguirem as obrigações trazidas pela regulamentação, pois sua ausência poderá desestimular o cumprimento da lei”, conclui Marcio.

By Luiz Gustavo Pacete via Forbes Brasil

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Gêmeos digitais: os mundos que estão mudando a forma como as empresas funcionam

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A Vodafone, segunda maior empresa de telefonia móvel do mundo, iniciou, há alguns anos, um projeto para mapear melhor sua área de cobertura no Reino Unido. Hoje, o que começou como um mapa melhor se transformou em uma duplicata exata da rede física da Vodafone dentro de seus próprios computadores. É uma versão completa e continuamente atualizada de sua infraestrutura no Reino Unido – um gêmeo digital. Com ele, as decisões de negócio da Vodafone passam a ser mais rápidas, com informação muito mais detalhadas e também com uma noção do que pode acontecer no futuro.

O gêmeo digital é um nome modesto para uma tecnologia que, na prática, pode parecer algo saído da ficção científica. É uma forma de fundir o mundo físico – uma rede de cadeia de suprimentos, a rede de ônibus da cidade de Nova York, um porto internacional – com o mundo digital. Não só permite operações mais eficientes e transparentes. Isso nos permite fazer e responder perguntas que seriam difíceis de resolver de outra forma.

By Kathleen Kewley via Forbes Brasil

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Britain to contribute to Brazil’s Amazon fund, PM Sunak says

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British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Friday announced his country will contribute to the Amazon Fund, a major development for Brazil as the South American nation tries to garner more donors to the initiative aimed at fighting deforestation.

Sunak’s pledge in a meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at 10 Downing Street follows a similar commitment by U.S. President Joe Biden earlier this year, with them joining previous donors Norway and Germany.

“There are so many interests we have in common,” Sunak told Lula at the meeting, mentioning higher trade and the fight against climate change. “I’m delighted to announce we will be investing in your Amazon Fund and I pay tribute to your leadership in this initiative”.

Via Reuters

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How to Apologize to a Customer When Something Goes Wrong

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Businesses are bound to make mistakes and disappoint their customers. But how you build your apology message and your careful attention to executing it appropriately can make the difference between losing those customers or increasing their loyalty. When delivered well, your apology message can improve the customer relationship to the point where it is stronger than if the mistake had never happened — a phenomenon known as the service recovery paradox. In this article, the author outlines five steps for writing an effective apology message, and explains why it’s important to share the apology process internally and with external stakeholders. It not only shows vulnerability from the organization, but also shows other customers that the company can be relied upon in times of distress.

A tired employee is updating shipping orders late at night at a textbook brokerage. They make a mistake in the code and accidentally ship outdated management textbooks to an important customer. Three days later, classes have begun, and with demanding course loads, the students already feel behind. Many are seeking immediate replacements. Cue the angry phone calls and emails.

By Tim Riesterer via Harvard Business Review

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WHO declares an end to the global COVID-19 public health emergency

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It marks a shift to long-term measures to handle the coronavirus

COVID-19 is no longer a global public health emergency, the World Health Organization announced May 5.

The organization pointed to two factors: Dropping COVID-19-related deaths and hospitalizations, and high levels of immunity to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, from vaccination or prior infection. While the pandemic is not over, those trends signal that it’s time to transition to more long-term prevention and control of the disease, WHO said in a statement.

By McKenzie Prillaman via Science News

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How Midsize Companies Can Repair Damaged Customer Relationships

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Addressing the tension between cost efficiency and customer intimacy is important for companies of any size, but it’s especially important for midsized companies, particularly those upper-middle-market companies with ambitions to rise to the top of their industry. In many cases, they built their brand, and their differentiation from the big guys, on the idea of personalization — of being closer to their customers than their multinational rivals can be — while also offering more sophistication, a broader offering, and more underlying service capability than small businesses can. Herein lies the core challenge: to grow, they need to build customer capabilities that are scalable, but if they do that at the expense of proactive connection with customers, they will lose their identity and a big piece of their competitive edge

The last few years have brought disruption after disruption to bear on the ways companies and customers interact. Arguably, the company-to-customer connection has been more disrupted than supply chains or operations, and more affected by disruptors like Covid and technology than any other key relationship. Think of the rise of e-commerce — which hockey-sticked during the pandemic; or the sudden (or seemingly sudden) ubiquitousness of self-checkout kiosks at grocery stores and pharmacies; or the ever-greater prevalence of voice response systems, to which you must listen closely because the “menu options have changed.” Or, recall the Covid-19 shutdowns and subsequent bounce-back, which altered everything from how diners eat to how sales reps call on B2B customers.

By Jason McDannold and Saurabh Singh via Harvard Business Review

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US Congress gears up for immigration reform as Title 42 ends

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A fresh push for bipartisan immigration reforms, coupled with enhanced border security, is emerging in the U.S. Congress, as thousands of migrants amass across the border in Mexico with the end of Title 42 controls next week.

It has been 37 years since Congress passed significant immigration reform, but a persistently high volume of migrants and an acute labor shortage have galvanized lawmakers. At the same time, many Republicans cite the flow of illegal drugs into the United States through ports of entry as reason to harden border areas.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives plans to pass a package of border security measures next week to place tougher constraints on immigrant asylum-seekers, resume construction of a wall along the southwest border with Mexico and expand federal law enforcement.

By Richard Cowan via Reuters

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Infusing Digital Responsibility into Your Organization

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As societal expectations grow for the responsible use of digital technologies, firms that promote better practices will have a distinct advantage. Strengthening your organization’s digital responsibility can drive value creation, and brands regarded as more responsible will enjoy higher levels of stakeholder trust and loyalty. These businesses will sell more products and services, find it easier to recruit staff, and enjoy fruitful relationships with shareholders. Based on their ongoing research into digital transformations and in-depth studies of 12 large European firms who are active in digital responsibility, they share four best practices around digital responsibility to maximize business value and minimize resistance.

In 2018, Rick Smith, founder and CEO of Axon, the Scottsdale, Arizona-based manufacturer of Taser weapons and body cameras, became concerned that advances in technology were creating new and challenging ethical issues. So, he set up an independent AI ethics board made up of ethicists, AI experts, public policy specialists, and representatives of law enforcement to provide recommendations to Axon’s management. In 2019, the board recommended against adding facial recognition technology to the company’s line of body cameras, and in 2020, it provided guidelines regarding the use of automated license plate recognition technology. Axon’s management followed both recommendations.

by Tomoko Yokoi, Lazaros Goutas, Michael Wade, Nicolas Zahn, and Niniane Paeffgen via Harvard Business Review

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Embrapa devolveu à sociedade R$ 34,70 para cada R$ 1 investido em 2022

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Principal instituição pública de pesquisa de alimentos, fibras e bioenergia chegou a lucro social de R$ 125,9 bilhões no ano passado

Em 2022, a Embrapa (Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária), apresentou um lucro social de R$ 125,88 bilhões, gerados a partir do impacto econômico no setor agropecuário de 172 tecnologias e 110 cultivares desenvolvidas pelas pesquisas. Para cada R$ 1 aplicado na Embrapa, no ano passado, foram devolvidos R$ 34,70 para a sociedade. Em 2021, para cada R$ 1 aplicado na instituição, foram devolvidos R$ 23,38.

Nesta quarta-feira (26), ela, a mais importante instituição pública na área de produção de alimentos, fibras e energia, completa 50 anos. O Brasil, provavelmente, não teria chegado até aqui como um dos maiores produtores de alimentos do mundo sem a Embrapa. Esse ganho é de toda a sociedade e seu lucro social dá a dimensão da sua existência. O Balanço Social publica, anualmente, os resultados da avaliação de impactos econômicos, sociais, ambientais e, no desenvolvimento institucional, de uma amostra de soluções tecnológicas. A metodologia utilizada nesses estudos é a soma dos impactos econômicos dessa amostra de tecnologias.

Via Forbes Brasil

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Spain will try to persuade reluctant EU partners to approve Mercosur deal

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Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday said some European Union partners were reluctant to approve a trade agreement with South American bloc Mercosur, but he would try to persuade them to greenlight the deal.

The bloc comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay Brazil is discussing concluding the agreement with the European Union after a political deal hammered out in 2019 was put on hold due to concerns, particularly in France, about Amazon deforestation and Brazil’s commitment to climate change action.

Via Reuters

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ChatGPT Can Predict Stock Market Moves? New Study Shows ChatGPT Surprisingly Accurate in Predicting Stock Moves And Could Even Replace Investment Analysts

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A new study conducted by finance professors from the University of Florida shows the potential value of ChatGPT in predicting stock market movements.

In the study, over 50,000 news headlines about companies dating back to October 2021 were fed to the chatbot, which evaluated whether the news was good, bad or irrelevant to the company’s stock prices. Using sentiment analysis, the chatbot generated a “ChatGPT score,” which was then analyzed to determine whether it was predictive of the companies’ stock market performance the following day.

The study found a significant positive correlation between the ChatGPT scores and the next-day stock performance for the analyzed companies. Companies with higher scores tended to have better returns than those with lower scores. ChatGPT outperformed traditional sentiment analysis methods that also used data from headlines and social media to predict stock movements.

By Jeannine Mancini via Yahoo! Finance

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Rio de Janeiro: The “Marvellous City” welcomes digital nomads

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Launched in January 2022, Brazil’s new Digital Nomad Visa is enticing a new type of traveller to the South American country. And Rio is one of the most alluring spots to settle.

Rio de Janeiro, a colourful urban sprawl divided by forest-covered mountains and edged by golden coastlines, has long seduced international tourists with its samba-fuelled nights and spectacular landscapes. Now, the “Marvellous City”, as it’s known by Brazilians, is enticing a new type of traveller with its Digital Nomad Visa, which was launched across the country last year.

The local government has been pushing ahead with investments to make the city increasingly suitable for remote workers, including improving connectivity with citywide 5G coverage. An emerging coffeehouse scene also brings new working spots and a digital nomad vibe to Rio’s popular beachside areas, with modern cafes equipped with fast internet, contemporary brunch options and a variety of decent coffee.

By Sarah Brown via BBC

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Make It Safe for Employees to Speak Up — Especially in Risky Times

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In turbulent times like these, it’s natural for people to hold back and avoid taking risks at work. This can mean a reluctance to report mistakes, ask questions, offer new ideas, or challenge a plan. People, whether they’re aware of it or not, try to protect their reputations and jobs. Unfortunately, the same behaviors that feel risky to individual employees are precisely what their companies need in order to thrive in this uncertain economic climate. To solve this dilemma, we encourage leaders to adopt a “winning formula” for achieving a more psychologically safe workplace and the benefits it provides.

The World Uncertainty Index remains high. Bank failures, war, inflation, and layoffs are contributing to a growing sense of instability and unease. As an HR manager at a technology firm told us, “Just seeing your team decrease from 35 to 18 can be very scary; it brings forth strong anxiety and worry over your job.”

By Constance Noonan Hadley, Mark Mortensen, and Amy C. Edmondson via Harvard Business Review

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Conheça a startup que quer extinguir os computadores e smartphones

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A Humane utiliza inteligência artificial (IA) e holografia para fazer com que qualquer superfície vire a interface de um dispositivo eletrônico

Assim como na ficção científica, é muito provável que, em algum tempo, aparelhos eletrônicos como smartphones possam ficar obsoletos. Pelo menos é o que propõe a startup Humane. Na semana passada, durante um TED, o fundador e CEO Imran Chaudhri mostrou como funciona sua principal tecnologia que mescla inteligência artificial e holografia para projetar informações em várias superfícies, o que inclui até mesmo a pele humana.

A tecnologia é ativada por voz e gestos. Na demonstração, Imran atende uma chamada projetada em sua mão, também testa funcionalidades como tradução. Outra aplicação da tecnologia é mapear os elementos de um alimento. Imran a apontou para uma barra de chocolate e o sistema identificou que o alimento possui, por exemplo, leite e manteiga de cacau, o que pode ser útil para quem é intolerante, por exemplo.

Via Forbes Brasil

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Biden joins Trump in the 2024 race, with each making a historic bid for reelection

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President Joe Biden launched a reelection bid like none before it on Tuesday with a call for Americans to choose him again to save democracy – less than three years after his defeat of Donald Trump was supposed to restore normality and unite the country.

Biden’s quest for a second term will unfold amid what would normally be deeply unpromising circumstances, with his approval rating languishing in the low 40s, with the country exhausted by successive crises after pandemic isolation ceded to a battle with soaring inflation. Polls show that a majority of voters – and even a majority of Democrats – don’t want him to run again. And the last thing the country appears to want is a Biden rematch with the 45th president, who’s the current frontrunner in the nascent Republican primary race.

By Stephen Collinson via CNN

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An Indigenous woman from the Amazon wins the Goldman Environment Prize

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Alessandra Korap’s defense of her ancestral Munduruku territory recognized how she and others overturned the traditionally all-male leadership to organize, helping to halt mining.

When Alessandra Korap was born in the mid-1980s, her Indigenous village nestled in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil was a haven of seclusion. But as she grew up, the nearby city of Itaituba, with its bustling streets and commercial activity, crept closer and closer.

It wasn’t just her village feeling the encroachment of non-Indigenous outsiders. Two major federal highways paved the way for tens of thousands of settlers, illegal gold miners and loggers into the region’s vast Indigenous territories, which cover a forested area roughly the size of Belgium.

By Associated Press via BBC News

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Cyber Thieves Are Getting More Creative

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Cybercriminals pull off many of their crimes by combining lots of real information with just a tiny bit of misinformation, which can be financially devastating for both companies and individuals. This article describes some recent examples of this technique, which include exploiting wire transfers, stealing paychecks, and tricking employees into helping “the boss.” It’s important to continually learn about such new schemes so that you know what to look for and how to prepare your defenses. While there are things that can be done to eliminate or at least dramatically reduce such crimes, procedures and precautions need to be put in place now, not after a crime has already taken place — especially as cybercriminals themselves get more and more creative.

Misinformation is frequently mentioned in the media, usually in the context of politics and viewed synonymously with fake news. Although these are serious issues, a bigger and more personal danger is often overlooked: How cyber criminals use misinformation to steal from companies and individuals.

By Stuart Madnick via Harvard Business Review

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Are Brazilians Hispanic? Many say ‘yes,’ report says

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A coding error in an annual survey by the U.S. Census Bureau has offered unprecedented insight into how large numbers of Brazilians in the U.S. identify as Hispanic or Latino.

An analysis by Pew Research Center shows that the coding mistake revealed at least 416,000 Brazilians, or more than two-thirds of Brazilians in the U.S., identifying as Hispanic in the 2020 American Community Survey. By comparison, only 14,000 Brazilians identified that way in 2019, and only 16,000 Brazilians did so in 2021 — years when the coding error wasn’t made.

Since 2000, the Census Bureau hasn’t classified Brazilians and other people from non-Spanish speaking countries in Latin America and the Caribbean as Hispanic because of federal government definitions that were last revised in 1997 but are being reconsidered for an update next year. Because of this, if someone marks that they are Hispanic but Brazilian on the survey, they are recoded as “not Hispanic” when the numbers are crunched.

By Mike Schneider via Scientific American

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In meeting with big economies, Biden announces funds to fight climate change

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President Joe Biden announced plans to increase U.S. funding to help developing countries fight climate change and curb deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest during a meeting on Thursday with leaders from the world’s largest economies.

During a virtual meeting of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, Biden urged his counterparts to be ambitious in setting goals to reduce emissions and meet a target of limiting overall global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

“We’re at a moment of great peril but also great possibilities, serious possibilities. With the right commitment and follow-through from every nation … on this call, the goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees can stay within reach,” Biden said.

By Jeff Mason via Reuters

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EU lawmakers back ban on goods linked to deforestation

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The European Parliament approved a landmark deforestation law on Wednesday to ban imports into the EU of coffee, beef, soy and other commodities if they are linked to the destruction of the world’s forests.

The law will require companies that sell goods into the European Union to produce a due diligence statement and “verifiable” information proving their goods were not grown on land deforested after 2020, or risk hefty fines.

The rules aim to eliminate deforestation from the supply chains of a range of everyday items sold in Europe. It will apply to soy, beef, palm oil, wood, cocoa, coffee, rubber, charcoal, and derived products including leather, chocolate and furniture.

By Kate Abnett via Reuters

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Arcabouço fiscal: entenda os principais pontos do texto divulgado pelo governo

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O Ministério da Fazenda divulgou nesta terça-feira, 18, o texto final do novo arcabouço fiscal, proposto pelo governo do presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PR). O projeto apresenta um conjunto de regras e parâmetros para o controle das contas públicas. A expectativa é que o texto seja protocolado no Congresso Nacional ainda hoje.

A nova regra fiscal substituirá o teto de gastos implementado no governo do ex-presidente Michel Temer (MDB), em 2016, e que limitava o crescimento das despesas ao ano anterior, corrigido pela inflação.

Entenda os principais pontos da nova âncora fiscal apresentada pelo governo:

By Izael Pereira via Exame

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3 New U.S. Employment Regulations That Companies Should Prepare for Now

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In 2023, company leaders will have to address new regulations and laws in three areas — noncompete clauses, pay transparency, and human capital disclosures — that have far-reaching implications that company leaders may not have fully grasped. How these changes will play out is far from clear, but the time to start thinking about them is now. The author presents several ways to view the coming changes as an opportunity to think deeply about their talent strategy and turn these regulatory developments to their advantage.

While layoffs in Silicon Valley and elsewhere dominate headlines, the reality is that many companies today still find themselves in a fierce war for talent. A spate of new laws and regulations — many of which are intended to make the workplace fairer for employees — may make the situation even more challenging for employers.

By Charles G. Tharp via Harvard Business Review

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EU lawmakers call for summit to control ‘very powerful’ AI

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EU lawmakers urged world leaders on Monday to hold a summit to find ways to control the development of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) systems such as ChatGPT, saying they were developing faster than expected.

The 12 MEPs, all working on EU legislation on the technology, called on U.S. President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to convene the meeting, and said AI firms should be more responsible.

The statement came weeks after Twitter owner Elon Musk and more than 1,000 technology figures demanded a six-month pause in the development of systems more powerful than Microsoft-backed (MSFT.O) OpenAI’s latest iteration of ChatGPT, which can mimic humans and create text and images based on prompts.

By Martin Coulter and Supantha Mukherjee via Reuters

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OPEC+ cuts risk oil supply deficit, threaten economic recovery -IEA

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Output cuts announced by OPEC+ producers risk exacerbating an oil supply deficit expected in the second half of the year and could hurt consumers and global economic recovery, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday.

OPEC+ and the IEA have jousted in recent months over their outlooks for global oil supply and demand.

Consumer countries represented by the IEA have argued that tightening supplies drive up prices and could threaten a recession, while OPEC+ blames Western monetary policy for market volatility and inflation which undercuts the value of its oil.

By Noah Browning via Reuters

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What Business Needs to Know About the New U.S. Cybersecurity Strategy

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In March 2023, the Biden administration released a new National Cybersecurity Strategy, which makes it clear that the time for private companies voluntarily opting into cybersecurity has long passed. Instead, the new strategy promises to support new regulatory frameworks that will shift liability and create incentives for private firms to defend against critical vulnerabilities. This article discusses three concrete things business leaders should know about the new strategy. First, every company will need to identify their distinct vulnerabilities and risks. Second, companies will then need to adopt measures that address those vulnerabilities. Third, the strategy categorically states that it will push for legislation to hold these firms liable when they fail to live up to the duty of care they owe consumers, businesses, or critical infrastructure providers.

On March 2, 2023, the Biden administration released its long-awaited National Cybersecurity Strategy. In light of cyberattacks targeting American infrastructure, business, and governmental agencies, the document elevates cybersecurity as a critical component of the United States’ economic prosperity and national security. It also intimates a fundamental dilemma, which is that the private sector — with key stakeholders consisting of software firms, small- and medium-sized businesses, broadband providers, and utility companies — holds the key to the public good of cybersecurity:

By Sarah Kreps and Amelia C. Arsenault via Harvard Business Review

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Brazil treasury says foreign investors pouring back into public debt

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Foreign investors are returning in numbers to Brazil’s public debt market, Treasury Secretary Rogerio Ceron told Reuters, just after local financial assets rallied since the government proposed new fiscal rules two weeks ago.

In a late Tuesday interview, Ceron said the government expects to double the foreign share of domestic public debt to around 20% by 2026. He cited demand at four times last week’s offering of a $2.25 billion sovereign bond issue, Brazil’s first since 2021, as evidence of renewed foreign interest.

“The external issuance proves this clearly. We feel the presence of non-residents more strongly in our auctions,” he said

By Marcela Ayres and Bernardo Caram via Reuters

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2023 Brazil Summit: Líderes discutem o futuro da energia no Brasil e no mundo

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O Brazil Summit é um evento anual que tem sido organizado pela Câmara de Comércio Brasil-Estados Unidos há mais de 20 anos. O programa é especialmente relevante para a comunidade empresarial de Nova York, já que permite que eles conheçam as questões econômicas e políticas mais importantes do Brasil, apresentadas por seus principais representantes.

A edição de 2023 do Brazil Summit promete ser ainda mais especial, reunindo líderes e especialistas dos setores de petróleo e gás, energias renováveis, jurídico e financeiro para discutir desafios e apresentar propostas sobre as perspectivas do Brasil. O evento também contará com discussões importantes, oferecendo insights críticos sobre as perspectivas econômicas, políticas e de investimento do país.

Via Bloomberg Línea

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Mulheres geram menos risco e maior retorno nos investimentos

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Embora estudos mostrem que investidoras têm desempenho mais consistente ao investir, elas são só 16,2% dos investidores de venture capital

Quando as mulheres fazem parte das decisões financeiras de seus lares, empresas, fundos de investimento ou governos, o dinheiro é administrado de forma mais eficaz e eficiente. Os investimentos geridos por mulheres têm uma taxa de retorno mais elevada.

Investir não é um jogo no qual uma pessoa perde e outra ganha. Ao expandir quem está envolvido nas decisões e, quem está inovando, cria mais empregos, aumenta a competitividade e faz crescer a economia.

By Geri Stengel via Brasil Forbes

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A credibilidade dos créditos de carbono em xeque

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Inconsistências na fiscalização e na metodologia podem levar à geração de “créditos podres”, um dos grandes desafios do mercado

Desde o início de uma discussão mais contundente sobre a importância de as empresas adotarem medidas rumo à descarbonização, o mercado de créditos de carbono tem crescido exponencialmente. Essa medida começou a ganhar corpo desde a assinatura do Acordo de Paris, tratado internacional sobre mudanças climáticas, adotado em 2015, que prevê a redução das emissões de gases de efeito estufa limitando o aumento da temperatura global a níveis bem abaixo de 2 graus celsius em relação aos níveis pré-industriais. Além disso, foi potencializada recentemente com a pandemia da covid-19 que trouxe à tona a importância crucial de implementação de ações mais objetivas sobre o desenvolvimento sustentável.

Complementarmente às ações e aos esforços para reduções de emissões de gases de efeito estufa, o mecanismo de créditos é considerado parte fundamental na jornada de descarbonização que o mundo tanto almeja. Nesse cenário, o Brasil tem um papel de protagonista.

By Nelmara Arbex e Felipe Salgado via Exame

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Quais profissões serão substituídas pela IA? Veja as áreas

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Desde o lançamento do ChatGPT, da Open AI, e do Bard, do Google, as discussões sobre se as IAs (inteligências artificiais) substituirão os humanos aumentaram e estudos mostram que alguns empregos – surpreendentemente, alguns tradicionalmente ocupados por executivos – podem ser fortemente impactados.

Quais serão as profissões mais impactadas pelas IAs
1. Finanças e bancos
2. Mídia e marketing
3. Serviços jurídicos

Os empregos que serão menos impactados pelas IAs
1. Trabalhadores de manufaturas e fábricas
2. Agricultores
3. Profissionais da saúde

By Arianna Johnson via Forbes Brasil

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Latin American Countries Will Grow Less Than Expected: World Bank

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Latin America and the Caribbean will experience only modest growth this year as the region’s economies suffer from high interest rates and falling commodity prices, the World Bank said in a report released Tuesday.

The Washington-based organization projects that the regional economy as a whole will expand 1.4% through December, lagging all other regions. It had projected 1.6% growth for this year, but consensus growth forecasts in Chile, Argentina and Colombia have worsened since the bank’s last report in October 2022. Activity is seen expanding 2.4% in each of the following two years.

“The forecasts going forward predict the same lackluster pace of the past two decades, which remains insufficient to reduce poverty, promote inclusion, and defuse social tensions,” bank analysts wrote. Fiscal imbalances remain high and will erode the equivalent of 2.7% of regional growth this year, while debt levels are seen at 64.7%, they said.

By Maria Eloisa Capurro via Bloomberg Línea

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Cinquenta anos depois, celular se mantém como hub de utilidades

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Em 3 de abril de 1973, Martin Cooper, atualmente com 94 anos, inventou aquele que é considerado o primeiro celular: Motorola_DynaTC8000X. À época, o executivo liderava a equipe de designers e engenheiros da Motorola. Das diversas entrevistas que deu sobre o tema, Martin ressaltou que o celular surgiu da necessidade de que existisse um aparelho que as pessoas pudessem utilizar em qualquer lugar. Em 2007, 34 anos depois, uma nova revolução surgiria dentre esses equipamentos com a apresentação do iPhone ao mundo.

Ao relembrar os 50 anos do celular, fica um questionamento: até quando o principal meio de comunicação da humanidade seguirá tão relevante? De acordo com a Comscore, somente o Brasil possui 121 milhões de usuários de smartphones, o equivalente a 93% da população. “Eles estão gastando mais tempo em seus dispositivos, com um aumento de 3% no tempo gasto em aplicativos móveis em relação ao primeiro trimestre de 2022; maioritariamente nas redes sociais e serviços”, explica Alejandro Fosk, vice-presidente da Comscore para América Latina.

By Luiz Gustavo Pacete via Forbes Brasil

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Brasil fica em 7º em ranking de investimentos estrangeiros

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O Brasil é o sétimo destino mais procurado pelos estrangeiros que querem investir em países emergentes, conforme aponta o Índice de Confiança para Investimento Direto Estrangeiro, da consultoria internacional Kearney. O País ficou atrás de China, Índia, Emirados Árabes Unidos, Catar, Tailândia e Arábia Saudita. Ao todo, o levantamento avaliou o desempenho de 25 nações.

Esta é a primeira vez, em 25 anos, que a Kearney compilou dados sobre o apetite dos investidores em relação aos mercados emergentes. Anualmente, a consultoria divulga um ranking geral de desempenho das nações mais buscadas pelos investidores estrangeiros em todo o mundo.

Conforme divulgado pela consultoria, o índice é produzido com base em uma pesquisa realizada com executivos de empresas de diversos setores econômicos, em cerca de 30 países. Para participar da pesquisa, as empresas precisam ter faturamento anual igual ou superior a US$ 500 milhões. O estudo avalia, seguindo as respostas dos executivos, quais os mercados com maior potencial para atrair investimentos nos próximos três anos.

By Estadão Conteúdo via Exame

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Research: How Social Media Can Help You Find a Partner Brand

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Partnering with a brand outside your industry can be a great, win-win way to create new value. But what does it take to select the right partner? The authors share new research suggesting that social media data can be a useful tool to identify high-potential brand partners, as well as to gain insight into both your own customer base and that of your competitors. Specifically, brands that share a high number of social media followers often go well together in consumers’ minds, increasing the chances of success if they choose to collaborate. Of course, this approach has its limitations, and must be complemented by a comprehensive analysis of the risks and benefits of a potential partnership. But when thoughtfully implemented, analysis of social media co-followership patterns can be a quick and inexpensive way to identify non-obvious alliances whose potential might otherwise be difficult to anticipate.

In 2014, Uber and Spotify launched an innovative cross-industry collaboration: Though ride sharing and music streaming may seem like unrelated businesses, the partnership — in which Uber riders could use Spotify to wirelessly control the music being played — benefited both brands, allowing them to cross-promote and access new markets without either party having to develop costly new technologies internally. Similarly creative examples of cross-category collaborations include Disney and MAC Cosmetics’ Aladdin makeup collection, IKEA and LEGO’s storage solutions for kids, and Red Bull and GoPro’s joint promotional campaigns.

By Pankhuri Malhotra, Siddhartha Bhattacharyya, and Mark C. Bolino via Harvard Business Review

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Arcabouço fiscal terá piso e teto para crescimento dos gastos

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Finalmente, após semanas de adiamentos, o governo apresentou a proposta do novo arcabouço fiscal, que será enviado ao Congresso na próxima semana como um projeto de Lei Complementar (LC). A proposta foi apresentada na manhã de hoje em uma entrevista coletiva concedida pelos ministros da Fazenda, Fernando Haddad, e do Planejamento, Simone Tebet, no Ministério da Fazenda. A nova regra para as contas públicas vai substituir o teto de gastos, aprovado em dezembro de 2016 e que vinha valendo desde 2017.

O teto de gastos limitava a expansão das despesas públicas ao valor do ano anterior, corrigido pelo IPCA. Agora, o novo arcabouço fiscal terá pisos e tetos para o crescimento dos gastos. As despesas poderão crescer apenas 70% do avanço das receitas. Se essa regra for descumprida, o teto cai para 50% do crescimento. O objetivo das novas regras fiscais é permitir que o governo gaste mais com saúde, educação e segurança pública e possibilitar mais investimentos públicos sem descontrolar as contas.

A nova regra estabelece uma banda de flutuação para a meta do resultado primário (diferença entre despesas e receitas sem contar os juros. Essa banda vai funcionar como a meta de inflação, com um objetivo e limites de tolerância para mais e para menos. A primeira meta é de crescimento real da despesa primária entre 0,6% e 2,5% ao ano. Caso o resultado primário do governo fique acima do teto da banda, o excedente poderá ser utilizado para investimentos.

By Cláudio Gradilone via Forbes Brasil

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Brasil e China avançam em acordo para comércio sem o uso do dólar

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Os governos do Brasil e da China avançaram nas últimas semanas na negociação para que o comércio e os investimentos entre os dois países sejam feitos diretamente entre o real e o yuan (RMB) o que excluiria o dólar dos Estados Unidos como moeda de referência nas transações.

Reduzir a dependência do dólar, aumentando a circulação do yuan, é uma das linhas de atuação da política externa e financeira da China, num contexto de disputas comerciais e geopolíticas com os Estados Unidos. Recentemente, o governo do presidente Xi Jinping firmou acordos com Arábia Saudita e Rússia para o uso do yuan no comércio. O RMB tem cerca de 2% de participação nos pagamentos globais, em crescimento principalmente no entorno do gigante asiático.

No fim de janeiro, os bancos centrais dos dois países assinaram um memorando para estabelecer uma “clearing house” no Brasil. Na prática, trata-se de um banco escolhido pelo governo chinês – o ICBC – com liquidez na moeda chinesa para fazer a compensação das divisas diretamente. O empresário no Brasil receberia em yuan e faria, nesse mesmo banco, a troca pelo real.

By Estadão via Exame

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Elon Musk and several other technologists call for a pause on training of AI systems

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Companies researching AI are “locked in an out-of-control race to develop and deploy ever more powerful digital minds that no one — not even their creators — can understand, predict, or reliably control,” the letter says.

A group of technology industry executives and academics have signed an open letter calling for at least a six-month pause on large, open experiments with artificial intelligence.

Companies researching AI are “locked in an out-of-control race to develop and deploy ever more powerful digital minds that no one — not even their creators — can understand, predict, or reliably control,” the letter reads. “If such a pause cannot be enacted quickly, governments should step in and institute a moratorium.”

The letter warns of potentially apocalyptic scenarios.

By Kevin Collier via NBC News

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80% dos empregadores brasileiros têm dificuldade de encontrar talentos

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Uma pesquisa do ManPowerGroup sobre escassez de talentos descobriu que 80% dos empregadores do Brasil encontram dificuldades para recrutar os funcionários que precisam em 2023. A taxa, que aumentou desde 2018, ficou estável em relação ao ano anterior e varia de acordo com a indústria.

Enquanto as empresas das áreas de bens de consumo e serviços e de finanças e imobiliário registraram a taxa de 82% de dificuldade de encontrar talentos, as indústrias de transporte, logística e automotiva, de serviços de comunicação e de assistência médica e ciências da vida divulgaram 81% de dificuldades para encontrar funcionários.

As habilidades mais procuradas
O estudo destacou as principais competências buscadas pelos empregadores brasileiros, com as habilidades humanas se destacando em uma era dominada pelo digital. Veja as 5 soft skills mais buscadas no Brasil:

Bia Gabriela Guido via Brasil Forbes

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Brasil pode se tornar centro de ciência quântica aplicada ao agro

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Interessados em abrir espaço de pesquisa, por meio de laboratórios de estudo e de parcerias com instituições, o Lanaf (Laboratório Nacional de Agro-Fotônica), que pertence à Embrapa Instrumentação, unidade localizada em São Carlos (SP), reuniu na sexta (24), pela primeira vez, um grupo de pesquisadores para traçar o potencial das tecnologias quânticas no desenvolvimento do agro. As tecnologias quânticas estão presentes em diversos desenvolvimentos, como GPS, LED, câmeras digitais, computadores e laser.

“Precisamos ser o centro do mundo da ciência quântica aplicada ao agro, ter uma visão estratégica”, disse Paulo Nussenzveig, pró-reitor de pesquisa e inovação da USP (Universidade de São Paulo), durante o 1º Workshop de Tecnologias Quânticas no Agro. “Há uma nova revolução quântica em curso, que depende de um conhecimento profundo, temos uma comunidade acadêmica forte que domina esse conhecimento. É urgente um projeto de inovação a longo prazo no país”. O encontro teve por objetivo conectar universidades, instituições de pesquisa e a iniciativa privada em torno do tema.

By Redação via Forbes Brasil

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5 Ways to Boost Creativity on Your Team

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Creativity is vital for innovation, but many organizational leaders don’t know how to tap it among their employees. Instead, they shower them with meetings and whiteboard sessions that go nowhere. Instead, the authors recommend finding new ways to give your employees the time and space they need to generate new ideas. Their five strategies include generating lots of ideas (including bad ones), creating a space for failure, blocking off unscheduled calendar time, focusing on problem-finding, and delaying decisions.

For all the hype around innovation and creativity — one recent survey of 1,500 CEOs pegged creativity as the top skill for business leaders – these muscles remain some of the most underdeveloped in organizations. Even with the best innovation strategy in place, companies can’t develop new ideas and products until their teams become more creative. And the reason teams aren’t creative is because leaders have failed to understand how creativity really works.

By Jeremy Utley and Perry Klebahn via Harvard Business Review

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World Bank warns of ‘lost decade’ in global growth without bold policy shifts

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Average potential global economic growth will slump to a three-decade low of 2.2% per year through 2030, ushering in a “lost decade” for the world’s economy, unless policymakers adopt ambitious initiatives to boost labor supply, productivity and investment, the World Bank warned on Monday.

Failure to reverse the expected broad-based slowdown in potential gross domestic product (GDP) growth would have profound implications for the world’s ability to tackle climate change and reduce poverty, it said in a new report.

But concerted efforts to boost investment in sustainable sectors, cut trade costs, leverage growth in services, and expand labor force participation could boost potential GDP growth by up to 0.7 percentage point to 2.9%, the report said.

By Andrea Shalal via Reuters

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Research: The Pros and Cons of Soliciting Customer Reviews

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Many companies chase customers for online reviews by sending them solicitation emails. These emails aren’t always a good idea, according to new research. Solicitation will push your ratings from the extremes to the average. This could be good or bad. Email prompts disproportionally triggers moderate reviews as the passionate reviewers are more likely to leave reviews of their own accord. Thus, for those products with generally-high average ratings, reminders will lower the average rating. In contrast, products with generally-low average ratings might benefit from reminders. The exception is platform companies such as Amazon or Booking.com–they should always send out reminders as all that matters to them is volume. Also, the research found that companies that do solicit reviews don’t need to offer financial rewards–a reminder email is equally effective.

Online reviews have substantial value for businesses. Ninety-eight-percent of customers read reviews before they shop, making it one of the most important sources of information about products and services; for 2021, online reviews were predicted to affect $3.8 trillion revenues worldwide.

By Leif Brandes, David Godes, and Dina Mayzlin via Harvard Business Review

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Brazil central bank holds rates, flags increased inflation expectations

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Brazil’s central bank cited rising inflation expectations as it kept interest rates unchanged for the fifth consecutive policy meeting on Wednesday, drawing concern from the government and weakening bets of imminent monetary easing.

The bank’s rate-setting committee, known as Copom, maintained its Selic benchmark interest rate at 13.75%.

The decision, which defied intense pressure from the new government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to reduce borrowing costs, matched the expectations of all 30 respondents in a Reuters poll.

By Marcela Ayres via Reuters

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Stocks rebound as US and UK seek to calm investors

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Stock markets around the world have bounced back after the US and UK governments again reassured markets about banks’ stability.

Investors have recently been unnerved by a string of bank failures.

But US stock markets were higher after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen signalled the US government would protect people’s deposits if another bank collapsed.

In the UK, the FTSE closed 1.79% higher after gains in top bank shares.

UK reassurance

Meanwhile, in the UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt told MPs that the UK’s financial system is “fundamentally strong” after facing questions from Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves.

Ms Reeves asked whether the system is “adequate to protect taxpayers and depositors” and if the government can be confident that no other UK banks are vulnerable to failure after Silicon Valley Bank UK’s collapse.

Via BBC News

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Yellen vows to safeguard deposits at smaller U.S. banks, intervene if needed

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U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told bankers on Tuesday that she is prepared to intervene to protect depositors in smaller U.S. banks suffering deposit runs that threaten more contagion amid the worst financial system turmoil in more than a decade.

In a speech aimed at calming nerves rattled by two prominent bank failures this month, Yellen said that the U.S. banking system was stabilizing and steps taken to guarantee deposits in those institutions, showed a “resolute commitment” to ensure depositors’ savings and banks remain safe.

“The steps we took were not focused on aiding specific banks or classes of banks. Our intervention was necessary to protect the broader U.S. banking system,” Yellen told an American Bankers Association conference in Washington.

By David Lawder via Reuters

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Digital skills: você tem as habilidades do futuro?

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Todo mundo vai precisar ter habilidades digitais, não importa a área. Elas aumentam – e muito – a sua chance de continuar empregado. Veja quais são

Mais de 80% dos diretores admitem que a falta de habilidades digitais tem impacto negativo sobre sua empresa. O dado é resultado de um estudo feito no ano passado pela AND Digital, empresa europeia de capacitação em digital skills com mais de 40 mil pessoas já treinadas em diversos países. O dado reforça que o desejo de lideranças em promover a transformação digital em suas companhias nem sempre vem acompanhado de mudanças no perfil profissional dos funcionários.

Ganhar habilidades digitais – isto é, ter competências técnicas que envolvem tecnologias para aplicar no cotidiano do trabalho –, significa acompanhar o ritmo das mudanças que vai mudar a cara das empresas nos próximos anos. “Com aceleradores e chips que estão sendo construídos, podemos ter sistemas de IA mil vezes mais poderosos do que são hoje até 2030. Não é exagero”, disse a futurista Amy Webb em sua palestra na conferência SXSW no início do mês.

By Gabriela Guido via Forbes Brasil

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Brazil looks to regulate monetized content on Internet

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The Brazilian government is studying whether to regulate Internet platforms with content that earns revenue such as advertising, its secretary for digital policies, Joao Brant, said on Friday.

The idea would be for a regulator to hold such platforms, not consumers, accountable for monetized content, Brant told Reuters.

Another goal is “to prevent the networks from being used for the dissemination and promotion of crimes and illegal content” especially after the riots by supporters of former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro in Brasilia in January, fueled by misinformation about the election he lost in October.

By Victor Pinheiro via Reuters

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Brazil’s Lula to go to China with 240 business representatives, says official

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Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will visit China this month accompanied by a delegation of 240 business representatives, including 90 from agriculture sector, a senior Foreign Ministry official said on Friday.

Trade promotion secretary Daniel Fernandes said at a press briefing that all the government’s ministries will be represented on the March 26-30 visit to Beijing and Shanghai.

The ministry’s Secretary for Asia, Pacific and Russia, Eduardo Saboia, said Brazil is hoping to diversify its trade relationship with China, the largest customer for Brazilian exports, mainly soy beans and iron ore.

By Anthony Boadle via Reuters

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What Do Your B2B Customers Really Want?

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B2B sellers often think of customers as rational decision-makers who seek to maximize value, reduce costs, and save time. But a study of 2,128 office workers across the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy found that B2B customers prefer interactions that fuel their psychological needs — even if they require more time or cost more money. Viewing customer service through the prism of the three core psychological needs — autonomy, relatedness, and mastery — opens up a wealth of opportunities for elevating service

Researchers have long understood that all humans, regardless of gender, age, and culture, are fueled by three psychological needs: an ingrained desire for choice (autonomy), connection with others (relatedness), and experiences that grow their skills (mastery).

While the universality of psychological needs is well established, they have largely been ignored as a tool for growing consumer loyalty and reducing churn. Recently, my team at ignite80, in collaboration with the customer communication platform, Front, surveyed 2,128 office workers across the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy whose role involved working with B2B companies.

By Ron Friedman via Harvard Business Review

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Brazil to pay debt to multilateral organizations in 2023

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Brazil’s government will pay outstanding debts of 2.6 billion reais ($490.6 million) to multilateral organizations in 2023, reinforcing its commitment to global forums, the Planning Ministry said on Thursday.

The amount corresponds to debts to “various organizations” inherited from former President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration, which leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will settle.

Lula has sought to restore Brazil’s international presence and reposition the country to attract investments, most notably resuming an active role in fighting climate change and addressing human rights.

By Marcela Ayres Editing by Chris Reese via Reuters

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Has Your Organization Acted on What It’s Learned in the Pandemic?

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As the pandemic marks a third anniversary, business leaders around the world are eager to move on. But few companies have systematically institutionalized what they’ve learned from their Covid-19 experience to build resilience. The authors suggest a three-step approach to do so: 1) Evaluate how you — and your competitors — performed during the pandemic; 2) Extract the stories of what worked and what didn’t through an after-action review; and 3) Implement the needed capabilities identified in the after-action review.

BCG research has found that 15% of companies outperform their industry in more than 80% of crises. Berkshire Hathaway, for example, outperformed its peers in 15 out of the last 17 turbulent periods.

by Martin Reeves, Robert van der Veeken, and Adam Job via Harvard Business Review

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Brazil development bank aims to pay out sums totaling 2% of GDP by 2026

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An executive at Brazilian state development bank BNDES said on Tuesday the bank aims to pay out the equivalent of 2% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2026.

BNDES did not specify the exact figure. According to Brazil’s government statistics agency, the country’s 2022 GDP amounted to 9.9 trillion reais ($1.88 trillion).

Speaking at a news conference, BNDES planning executive Nelson Barbosa also said there is more credit supply to the bank coming from abroad and that this could unlock more credit for South America’s largest nation.

By Rodrigo Viga; Writing by Carolina Pulice; Editing by Sarah Morland via Reuters

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VPB de R$ 1,249 trilhão caminha para ser o maior da história do agro

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O VBP (Valor Bruto da Produção Agropecuária) de 2023 está estimado em R$ 1,249 trilhão, valor 5 % maior do que o obtido no ano passado. O resultado é o maior de uma série com início há 34 anos. A revisão que ocorre mensalmente foi apresentada hoje (13), pelo Mapa (Ministério da Agricultura e Pecuária).

O VBP é calculado com base nas informações de safras de fevereiro,  é organizado pela Companhia Nacional de Abastecimento (Conab) e Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE). O valor das lavouras está previsto em R$ 887,7 bilhões (crescimento de 8,9%) e a pecuária, 361,9 bilhões (retração de 3,4%).

Preços acima da média de anos anteriores e expectativas de boa safra em 2023 trazem contribuição positiva para um grupo amplo de lavouras, com destaque para laranja, cana-de-açúcar, milho e soja. Milho e soja representam 62% do VBP das lavouras, e têm participação decisiva nesses resultados. Sua influência também têm sido importante na produtividade de grãos que está sendo prevista com acréscimo de 10%.

By Redação via Forbes Brasil

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Os brasileiros do Brex estão socorrendo as startups do Vale do Silício

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A fintech de cartão de crédito corporativo, está entrando no mundo dos empréstimos para ajudar as startups prejudicadas pelo colapso

Enquanto as empresas que mantinham seu dinheiro no Silicon Valley Bank correm para encontrar soluções para a folha de pagamento desta semana, o CEO da Brex, Henrique Dubugras, passou os últimos dois dias no telefone para entrar no negócio de empréstimos, pelo menos temporariamente.

A fintech com sede em San Francisco anunciou no sábado (11) que já havia recebido mais de US$ 1 bilhão em pedidos de uma linha de crédito de emergência anunciada na sexta-feira (10).

Em uma entrevista, Dubugras disse à Forbes que a Brex ainda estava no processo de garantir os credores e definir as taxas, mas planejava fazê-lo até a segunda-feira. “Estamos aqui 24 horas por dia, 7 dias por semana, negociando as condições para começarmos a financiar”, disse ele.

By Alex Konrad via Forbes Brasil

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Biden emphasizes US banking system is safe after Silicon Valley Bank collapse

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President Joe Biden on Monday underscored that the American banking system remains safe, laying out how his administration is taking action to contain Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse.

“Americans can rest assured that our banking system is safe. Your deposits are safe,” Biden said from the Roosevelt Room. “Let me also assure you we will not stop at this. We will do whatever is needed on top of all this.”

Biden used his speech – which was only announced Sunday night – to allay fears, directly explaining what he has instructed his administration to do to protect small businesses and workers in the wake of a regulator shutdowns of both Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank over the last few days. These actions include backstopping depositors’ funds, making sure taxpayers are not on the hook for these moves, holding those responsible accountable and declining to extend relief to investors of Silicon Valley Bank.

The president said affected customers can “rest assured” that they will have access to their money on Monday.

By By MJ Lee, Phil Mattingly, Maegan Vazquez and Allie Malloy via CNN

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Fintechs impulsionam igualdade econômica para mulheres em todo o mundo

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Os serviços financeiros perdem cerca de US$ 700 bilhões (R$ 3,6 trilhões) por não atenderem às necessidades do público feminino

As fintechs lideradas por mulheres estão abrindo caminho para que outras mulheres em todo o mundo obtenham acesso a serviços financeiros, permitindo que elas assumam o controle de suas decisões relacionadas ao dinheiro e ao bem-estar com uma confiança inédita.

As mulheres são, historicamente, sub-representadas nas finanças. De acordo com a pesquisa realizada pela Oliver Wyman, os serviços financeiros tradicionais estão perdendo uma receita de pelo menos US$ 700 bilhões (R$ 3,6 bilhões) ao ano por não atenderem as necessidades das clientes do sexo feminino.

Desta forma, fundadoras de diversas origens e com diferentes experiências de vida são ideais para criar soluções projetadas especificamente para atender às necessidades das usuárias. Asssim, as iniciativas criam uma base de usuários do sexo feminino e ajudam a preencher as lacunas de igualdade de gênero.

By Nicole Casperson via Forbes Brasil

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Designing a Climate Advocacy Strategy

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Although the business community has made progress toward climate goals since the 2015 Paris Agreement, fewer than one-fifth of net-zero targets set by national and subnational governments and only a third of the largest public corporations with net-zero targets actually meet science-aligned criteria. Further, anti-climate lobbying has had a disastrous effect on the planet and cost years in meaningful action. Inaction is not an option. Businesses committed to being on the right side of history must advocate for policies, regulations, and laws to achieve economy-wide systemic change at the pace and scale required to achieve climate targets. Based on their cross-organizational work at three B Corps, the authors identified five critical elements for advocacy strategies that will help businesses use their power and influence to push for the system change required to meet climate targets.

“We had our chance to make incremental changes, but that time is over. Only a root-and-branch transformation of our economies and societies can save us from accelerating climate disaster,” said Inger Andersen, executive director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The data is clear: Global emissions are going up. Voluntary pledges to prevent new fossil fuel projects and curb devastating practices such as mass deforestation are failing to prevent the destruction of nature and rising global inequality.

by Sophie Dembinski, Charmian Love, and Beth Thoren via Harvard Business Review

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EU warms to unlocking stalled Mercosur trade deal

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The European Union is warming to the idea of concluding a major free trade deal with Brazil and its Mercosur neighbours, with “decisive progress” possible by July, a senior EU official and Sweden’s trade minister said on Friday.

The EU and the Mercosur bloc of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay completed negotiations 2019 but the deal has been on hold due to concerns, particularly in France, about Amazon deforestation and Brazil’s commitment to climate change action.

The European Commission has proposed Mercosur accept clear sustainability commitments, on which European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said it was already consulting EU members and lawmakers and Mercosur countries.

By Philip Blenkinsop via Reuters

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Executives Need to Invest in Understanding the Customer Experience

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Delivering superior customer experience (CX) is a mandate that now extends well beyond the bounds of customer service, support, sales, or IT departments. It requires a cultural shift that emphasizes pervasive information sharing and intent analysis across the enterprise. Executives not fully immersed in CX leave their organizations open to churn and reduced market presence. Executives across all domains need to step up and lead their organizations’ CX efforts in order to survive.

Call it a sixth sense on the part of consumers. When connecting with a company to make a purchase or get a question answered — be it on a sales floor, over the phone, or online — one can intuitively sense the environment of that company. They can tell whether it’s an inspiring and innovative place to work and cares about its customers and community, or is a terrible place to work that doesn’t respect customers and has a stagnant corporate culture. Of course, there are cases where no intuition is even required, and the state of an organization’s corporate culture is obvious through encounters with seemingly apathetic employees lacking the right information, or through confusing online interfaces. This is the crux of the current state of customer experience, or CX.

CX has long been seen as the primary duty of customer service personnel, and, more recently, technology staff charged with designing well-functioning digital and virtual interfaces. However, missing from the equation have been higher-level executives and decision-makers who haven’t paid enough attention to CX efforts and have taken things for granted. A lot of leaders have never experienced how good (or bad) their company’s customer experience is, and they assume it is always good, or at least passable.

By Joe McKendrick and Andy Thurai via Harvard Business Review

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Brazil announces pilot for digital currency seeking to leverage financial services

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Brazil’s central bank announced the start of a digital currency pilot project on Monday, aiming to replicate the success of its instant payment system Pix to popularize financial services in the country.

According to Fabio Araujo, coordinator of the initiative at the bank, the public use of the digital currency should begin at the end of 2024, after the completion of the testing phase – which will include buying and selling of federal public bonds among individuals – and its subsequent evaluation.

Araujo said the “digital real” will be built as a means of payment executed on distributed ledger technology (DLT), to support the provision of retail financial services settled through tokenized deposits in institutions of the financial and payment systems in Brazil.

Reporting by Marcela Ayres; Editing by Leslie Adler via Reuters

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Brazil to Double Lending Capacity of Its Development Bank

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Brazil’s development bank plans to issue tax-free bonds to double credit operations to nearly $40 billion without the Treasury’s help, according to its planning and project structuring director.

Nelson Barbosa, who served as finance minister under Dilma Rousseff and has now joined the ranks of the bank known as BNDES, said the bonds will be linked to development projects in areas where the institution wants to invest, such as energy transition, innovation and infrastructure. They will also be available to individual investors, sweetened by the exemption of income tax.

“One of our goals is to restore BNDES’s historical size, which means doubling the size of the bank,” Barbosa said in an interview in his office in Brasilia. “Instead of the Treasury borrowing and transferring funds to BNDES, the bank itself will raise the money.”

By Martha Beck via Reuters

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Countries agree on historic oceans treaty to protect the high seas

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Nearly 200 countries have agreed to a legally-binding “high seas treaty” to protect marine life in international waters, which cover around half of the planet’s surface, but have long been essentially lawless.

The agreement was signed on Saturday evening after two weeks of negotiations at the United Nations headquarters in New York ended in a mammoth final session of more than 36 hours – but it has been two decades in the making.

The treaty provides legal tools to establish and manage marine protected areas – sanctuaries to protect the ocean’s biodiversity. It also covers environmental assessments to evaluate the potential damage of commercial activities, such as deep sea mining, before they start and a pledge by signatories to share ocean resources.

By Laura Paddison via CNN

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Secretary Raimondo Appoints U.S. Members to the U.S.-Brazil CEO Forum

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Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo today announced the appointment of 12 U.S. CEOs who will serve in the U.S. Section of the U.S.-Brazil CEO Forum (Forum) during the 2023-2026 term. The newly-appointed members will coordinate, organize and plan the activities of the U.S. Section in preparation for the first in-person Forum meeting under the Biden-Harris Administration.

Additionally, Secretary Raimondo has appointed Mauro Gregorio, CEO of the Dow Silicones Corporation, to serve as the U.S. Section Private Sector Co-chair. In this role, Mr. Gregorio will organize members of the U.S. Section and coordinate with his Brazilian counterpart on Forum activities.

“The U.S. – Brazil CEO Forum is a critical vehicle in deepening our trade and investment relationship with Brazil, and I am proud to appoint these twelve United States CEOs from a cross-section of vital industries,” said Secretary Raimondo. “Their unmatched business knowledge and experience will be essential to advancing the objectives of the Forum.”

By U.S. Department of Commerce

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Itamaraty confirma Maria Luiza Viotti como embaixadora do Brasil nos EUA

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Itamaraty confirma Maria Luiza Viotti como embaixadora do Brasil nos EUA

Indicação de Viotti ainda terá que passar pelo crivo do Senado.

O Ministério das Relações Exteriores confirmou hoje o nome da diplomata Maria Luiza Viotti como a nova embaixadora do Brasil nos Estados Unidos. A indicação já recebeu aval do governo americano.

Viotti foi representante do Brasil na Organização das Nações Unidas (ONU), em Nova York, entre 2007 e 2013. Também foi chefe de gabinete do secretário-geral da ONU entre 2017 e 2021. Antes, serviu como embaixadora do Brasil na Alemanha (2013-2016) e Subsecretária-Geral da região da Ásia e do Pacífico (2016-2017). Ela substituirá em Washington o embaixador Nestor Foster, conhecido pelo alinhamento com o ex-presidente Jair Bolsonaro. A indicação de Viotti ainda terá que passar pelo crivo do Senado.


Por Murillo Camarotto via Valor

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Brazil exports to Arab nations hit 33-year high, agro products prevail

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Exports from Brazil to the 22 countries of the Arab League of nations generated record revenue of $17.7 billion in 2022, the highest since 1989, the Arab-Brazil Chamber of Commerce said on Thursday.The figure represents a 23.06% rise over the previous year and puts the Arab world as a key trade partner of the South American nation, which also does a lot of business with China and Europe.Arab countries of the Middle East and North Africa predominately buy agro products like meat and grains from Brazil. Sales of such goods represented 71% of the total exported by Brazil to the region, the Chamber said.

As in previous years, exports of Brazilian poultry to League countries stood out, rising by 26.35% in value as deals were not deterred by attempts to grow national production in the Middle East.Arab nations paid an average around $2,172 per tonne of Brazilian chicken in 2022, higher than $2,022 Brazil’s other clients disbursed, the Chamber said.

Reporting by Ana Mano; Editing by Aurora Ellis via Reuters

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Note from the Chamber: Defending Brazil’s Democracy

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New York, January 10, 2023

 

A Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce em Nova Iorque manifesta seu repúdio aos atos de vandalismo e ataques às instituições brasileiras ocorridos em Brasília. Em uma democracia não pode haver lugar para atos de violência e agressão à lei e ao Estado de Direito.

 

The Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce in New York condemns the acts of vandalism and attacks against Brazil’s institutions that took place in Brasília. In a democracy, there is no place for acts of violence and aggression against the rule of law.

 

Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce, Inc.

485 Madison Avenue (at 52nd Street), Suite 401
New York, NY 10022
Phone: (212) 751-4691

Brazil to play lead role on climate change policy -environment minister

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Brazil will not shy away from playing a leading role in addressing climate change and the impending emergency the world is facing, new environment minister Marina Silva said on Wednesday.

Silva announced the creation of an extraordinary secretary to end deforestation and plans to set up a climate authority within the administration of President Lula da Silva.

Lula took office on Sunday pledging to stop deforestation in the Amazon, a vital biome to curb climate change. He quickly revoked policies of his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro who eased environmental protection and allowed the rate of deforestation to surge to a 15-year-high on his watch.

Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu; Writing by Peter Frontini; editing by Grant McCool via Reuters

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Brazilian Startup Program Elevates Innovative Entrepreneurs and Forges Exciting Investment Opportunities with U.S. Venture Capitalists

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The recently refreshed Startup Outreach Brasil program kicked off in Chicago, with more cities to come in 2023 and beyond

ApexBrasil, The Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency, together with the Brazilian Ministry of Economy, Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sebrae (Brazilian Micro and Small Enterprises’ Support Service), and Anprotec (National Association of Entities Promoting Innovative Enterprises), recently announced the debut of the newly branded Startup Outreach Brasil Program. Over the past six years, Startup Outreach Brasil has selected high-growth Brazilian startups to receive personalized internationalization support. The program has successfully introduced Brazilian startups to several innovation ecosystems around the world that are growing in importance and prominence. Introduced during the program’s latest session in Chicago, the brand refresh represents Startup Outreach Brasil’s mission to educate the venture capital community about the innovative young companies coming out of Brazil, while also providing participating entrepreneurs with training and support to better understand conducting business ventures abroad.

Over the past decade, Brazil’s startup sector has earned the attention of the global investment community and experienced incredible growth. Specifically, more than 22,300 startups have launched in Brazil since 2015, and 30 startups have earned “unicorn” status since 2018, which represents companies that are valued above USD $1 billion. As a result, Brazil has become the largest startup economy in Latin America and attracted USD $9.43 billion in funding rounds in 2021 alone.

Via Yahoo!

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Brasil lidera investimentos, fusões e aquisições nos games e e-sports

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Mercado nacional já ultrapassa R$ 7 bilhões em receitas e, segundo a PwC, deve dobrar nos próximos cinco anos chegando a R$ 13 bilhões

O mercado brasileiro de games e e-sports movimentou, somente no ano passado, R$ 7 bilhões. Uma estimativa recente da PwC em sua Pesquisa Global de Entretenimento e Mídia apontou que o valor deve dobrar nos próximos cinco anos chegando a R$ 13 bilhões em 2026. A Newzoo, maior consultoria especializada nos números deste setor, aponta que, globalmente, o faturamento da indústria, que será de US$ 184,4 bi em 2022, chegará a US$ 211,2 bilhões em 2025.

A Newzoo também aponta que o Brasil é o terceiro país com maior audiência em jogos eletrônicos do mundo. O aquecimento do setor e a relevância dessa indústria refletem em negócios onde o Brasil tem protagonismo. O ano de 2022 foi um dos mais movimentados em termos de fusões, aquisições, investimentos e surgimentos de novas empresas especializadas em games e e-sports. Essa dinâmica se deu também pelo crescimento do interesse em tecnologias emergentes como NFT e outras associadas à Web3.

By Luiz Gustavo Pacete via Forbes

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Biden invites Brazil’s Lula for White House visit

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U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday invited Brazil’s president-elect, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, to visit the White House, which may happen after he takes office on Jan. 1.

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with Lula in Brasilia for almost two hours and discussed strengthening democracy in the Americas, combating climate change and addressing the situation in Haiti and Venezuela.

Sullivan extended the invitation for Lula to visit Washington on behalf of Biden, the White House said in a statement.

“He congratulated the President-elect on his election victory and discussed the importance of keeping open channels of communication between the two countries during the transition,” the statement, which did not include a date for an upcoming visit, said.

Lula welcomed the invite on social media.

“I am excited to talk with President Biden and deepen the relationship between our countries,” he tweeted.

Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu, Anthony Boadle and Gabriel Araujo in Brasilia Additional reporting by Katharine Jackson in Washington Editing by Sandra Maler and Matthew Lewis via Reuters

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Five Lessons From Brazil For Implementing FedNow

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The Federal Reserve has just entered the testing phase of its new instant payment service, FedNow. Inspired by the Brazilian system, Pix, FedNow aims to revolutionize how North Americans send and receive money, and it places all eyes on the world’s largest economy on the subject of payment innovation.

Banks will have less than a year to prepare for the launch of the long-awaited FedNow. While it’s not yet clear exactly how it works, the Federal Reserve’s vice president, Lael Brainard, said that the success of the system will depend on industry stakeholders—financial institutions, core service providers, software companies and application developers—devoting the appropriate resources to making the system viable for consumers before its launch, which should take place next summer.

These stakeholders must devote effort, time and money into innovation and technology. Through a robust and reliable software development framework, financial institutions should be able to offer a quality service that meets the needs of today’s world, especially in terms of digital processes, automation and digital wallets.

Lessons From The Brazilian System

As stated, Pix is the basic model for FedNow. Launched in 2020, Pix is now operated by more than 770 institutions, according to Bacen (Central Bank of Brazil). Adjustments happened quickly with its implementation, meaning that institutions had to use agile and specialized methods with clearly defined scopes and assertive planning that maximized value.

By Mateus Hernandes Rodrigues via Forbes

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Maratona Amazônica: como o Brasil pode liderar a economia de baixo carbono, segundo novo relatório

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Documento desenvolvido pela Systemiq Brasil com organizações multilaterais, setor privado, cientistas e comunidades originárias indica formas de impulsionar desenvolvimento da região

O Brasil pode se tornar a primeira grande economia – de média ou alta renda – a alcançar a neutralidade de carbono nos próximos 8 anos e, ao mesmo tempo, acelerar o seu crescimento econômico em US$ 100 bilhões a US$ 150 bilhões anuais ao PIB adicionais ao ritmo de crescimento atual (2,5%/ano). Com isso, o país seria um exemplo concreto ao mundo de prosperidade econômica sustentável para as próximas décadas, modelo que pode inspirar todo o Sul Global.

É o que mostra um relatório apresentado nesta quarta-feira (9) na Conferência das Nações Unidas sobre as Mudanças Climáticas – a COP27, no Egito. Chamado “The Amazon’s Marathon: Brazil to lead a low-carbon economy from the Amazon to the world” (A Maratona Amazônica: Brasil pode liderar economia de baixo carbono da Amazônia para o mundo), o documento é um plano de desenvolvimento econômico que apresenta análises sobre o potencial da região ao calcular a oportunidade financeira por trás das estratégias de mitigação de emissões de gases efeito estufa (GEE) e destacar projetos escaláveis que promovem uma nova abordagem baseada na natureza, centrada em pessoas e positiva para o meio ambiente.

Por Guilherme Justino, via Um Só Planeta

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China certifies Embraer jet that could take on homegrown model

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Brazilian planemaker Embraer SA (EMBR3.SA) said on Thursday that China’s aviation regulator had certified its E190-E2 regional jet for operations in the country, a move that would allow it to compete against China’s homegrown ARJ21 regional jet.

China had been slow to certify the latest generation of Western jets and turboprops that compete against domestic-made equivalents, though this week the ATR42-600 turboprop also was granted certification during Airshow China in the southern city of Zhuhai.

The E190-E2, a more fuel-efficient of the older E190 that already operates in China, can seat up to 114 passengers and was certified in Brazil, the United States and Europe in 2018.

The capacity compares with the 90-seat ARJ21 regional jet and 168-seat C919 narrowbody jet produced by Commercial Aviation Corp of China (COMAC).

Embraer said in a statement that the E190-E2 and the larger E195-E2 that can seat up to 146 passengers complemented the ARJ21 and C919 in terms of capacity.

Reporting by Sophie Yu in Beijing and Jamie Freed in Sydney; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Christian Schmollinger via Reuters

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Brazil Producing 3,967 Million Barrels Of Oil And Gas Per Day

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Brazil’s oil and natural gas production in August reached 3.967 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (Mmboe/d), which corresponds to 3.087 million barrels per day (MMbbl/d) of oil and 139.96 million cubic meters per day (MMm3/d) of natural gas.

The preliminary figures were released earlier this week, in Rio de Janeiro, by the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP), in the Dynamic Panel of Oil and Natural Gas Production.

In the pre-salt area, production stood at 2.966 Mmboe/d. The volume corresponds to 74.8 percent of the country´s total production. A good part of it was obtained in the Tupi field, namely 1.046 MMboe/d, equivalent to 26.4 percent of the total production in the country.

By Cristina Índio do Brasil via Eurasia Review

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João Carlos Martins – Visiting Presenter at Carnegie Hall

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Presented by MUSICA CODETTA

João Carlos Martins, Piano and Conductor, with NOVUS NY

60 years after making his Carnegie Hall debut, Brazilian pianist and conductor João Carlos Martins, a 20th century Bach interpreter, returns to Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage. He leads NOVUS NY in a program focusing on the music of Bach, the late pioneering 20th century Brazilian modernist Heitor Villa-Lobos, and Brazilian composer André Mehmari.

Via Carnegie Hall. Click here to learn more and get tickets

PROGRAM

Brandenburgo Concerto # 3 in D major
BWV 1048 (J.S. Bach)

Brandenburgo Concerto # 1 in F Major
BWV 1046 (J.S. Bach)

Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring
Cantata BWV 147
(J.S. Bach / Heitor Fujinami)

Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4
W264 – 424 (Heitor Villa-Lobos)
Prelúdio

Portais Brasileiros No. 2
(André Mehmari)
Cirandas

Saturday, November 19, 2022 7 PM
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall
Tickets: $75 / $50 / $30 and $10 for students (with I.D.)
João Carlos Martins, Piano and Conductor, with NOVUS NY
carnegiehall.org | CarnegieCharge 212-247-7800 | Box Office at 57th and Seventh

O Brasil e as oportunidades da economia verde

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A realidade imposta pelo aquecimento global tem mexido com o tabuleiro da economia e da geopolítica internacionais. A mudança climática, maior desafio a ser enfrentado pelas atuais gerações, tem exigido uma verdadeira reinvenção de hábitos. Se não mudarmos o modo como agimos e/ou fazemos negócios, estaremos fadados a entregar um Planeta Terra esgotado para nossos netos e bisnetos.

Assim, andar sobre os trilhos da economia verde deixou de ser uma opção e se tornou uma exigência para mitigarmos os impactos climáticos. E estamos correndo contra o relógio.

Aprendemos com a história que as crises, por mais graves e sofridas que sejam, ainda assim trazem aprendizados e oportunidades. E esta nova era, que nos inquieta com preocupações acerca da sociedade do hoje e do amanhã, também é capaz de impulsionar o desenvolvimento por meio da sustentabilidade.

Inspirado nas palavras de Pedro Passos, fundador da Natura, o Brasil, que já desperdiçou grandes oportunidades ao longo das décadas, não pode deixar mais este bonde passar.

By Paulo Hartung via CNN Brasil

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Brazil National Day

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PRESS STATEMENT

ANTONY J. BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE

SEPTEMBER 7, 2022

On behalf of the United States of America, I congratulate the people of Brazil on the 200th anniversary of your independence on September 7th.

As the two largest democracies in the Western Hemisphere, the United States and Brazil share a commitment to support democracy throughout the region and demonstrate its benefits for all people. The United States and Brazil continue to work on deepening our vital strategic and economic relationship. Together, our countries can ensure regional peace and security, advance human rights and racial justice, and build a safe, healthy, sustainable, and prosperous future for coming generations.

The United States offers its best wishes to the people of Brazil as they celebrate the bicentennial of their independence.

Via U.S. DEPARTMENT of STATE

See statement here

Indústria da moda aposta em produtos de menos impacto ao meio ambiente

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Com investimento em tecnologia e inteligência, setor aposta em produtos têxteis que circulam mais e são mais sustentáveis

Em sua primeira “loja circular”, inaugurada no fim de 2021 no Rio de Janeiro, a Renner montou uma espécie de vitrine de suas iniciativas de sustentabilidade. Ali, amostras da pauta de sustentabilidade da empresa estão presentes desde a arquitetura – com uso de materiais reciclados e recicláveis e reaproveitamento de 97% de resíduos – até o abastecimento com energia originada de fonte eólica.

Estão também na seleção de peças com Selo Re (indicativo de que geram menor impacto ambiental na produção), no coletor do serviço de logística reversa e no espaço dedicado ao Repassa, plataforma de revenda de vestuário, calçados e acessórios adquirida ano passado. Hoje, a Renner conta com mais uma loja circular. E recebeu, por essas e outras estratégias, a maior pontuação entre as empresas de varejo no S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook 2022.

Leia mais: “Tudo é ESG”: CEO da Vivo detalha iniciativas da empresa

“É um reconhecimento importante de que estamos em um bom caminho”, diz o diretor presidente da Lojas Renner, Fabio Faccio. “O S&P integra as empresas de capital aberto com as melhores práticas de sustentabilidade no mundo, e já estamos pelo quinto ano consecutivo no índice, sendo que neste último atingimos a classificação máxima. Mas sabemos que ainda temos bastante coisa para fazer, por isso lançamos metas para continuar evoluindo no tema.”

Por Mariana Weber e Maria Rita Alonso via Forbes Brasil

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Brazil brokerage giant with 3.6M clients launches BTC and ETH trading

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XP Inc has become the latest Brazilian fintech player to offer crypto trading services, following Nubank and MercadoLibre.

Brazilian brokerage giant XP Inc has officially launched its crypto trading platform XTAGE in Brazil, bringing a potential 3.6 million users to the crypto markets.

The news was broke in a Monday post by the Nasdaq Exchange Twitter account, noting that XP had rung the exchange’s “Opening Bell” to celebrate the launch of the XTAGE digital assets trading platform.

Initially, XP Inc’s 3.6 million clients will have access to Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) trading, but the broker told Cointelegraph back in May that there were plans to “support other digital assets and investment products based on crypto assets in the future.”

By STEPHEN KATTE via Cointelegraph

Read full article here

The Brazilian Scientists Inventing An mRNA Vaccine — And Sharing The Recipe

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When Moderna and Pfizer first came out with their mRNA vaccines for COVID-19, supply was limited to rich countries and they did not share the details of how to create it.

That left middle income countries like Brazil in the lurch. But for Brazilian scientists Patricia Neves and Ana Paula Ano Bom, that wasn’t the end. They decided to invent their own mRNA vaccine.

Their story, today: Aaron talks to global health correspondent Nurith Aizenman about the effort and how it has helped launch a wider global project to revolutionize access to mRNA vaccine technology.

Further reading:

This episode was produced for Short Wave by Margaret Cirino and edited by Rebecca Ramirez. It was edited for broadcast by Vikki Valentine. Fact-checking by Rachel Carlson and audio engineering by Brian Jarboe via NPR

Full article/podcast

Ponte aérea SP-RJ é a primeira do mundo com acesso biométrico do check-in ao embarque

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Congonhas (SP) e Santos Dumont (RJ) são os primeiros aeroportos brasileiros a implantar de forma definitiva o embarque facial biométrico 100% digital para passageiros e tripulantes.

O Embarque + Seguro é um programa conduzido pelo Ministério da Infraestrutura (Minfra), com tecnologia Serpro e parceria do Ministério da Economia. A solução, que combina análise de dados e validação por biometria, dispensa a apresentação de cartões de embarque e documentos de identificação dos viajantes de voos domésticos partindo desses terminais.

Na manhã desta terça-feira, 9 de agosto, o ministro da Infraestrutura, Marcelo Sampaio, acompanhado dos ministros da Cidadania, Ronaldo Bento, e do Turismo, Carlos Brito, liderou uma comitiva governamental para vistoriar o funcionamento de todo o acesso biométrico. As autoridades acompanharam diversos embarques diretamente do aeroporto de Congonhas. O presidente Gileno Barreto, o diretor de Relacionamento com Clientes, André de Cesero, os superintendentes Brenno Sampaio, Rafael Soto e Giordanni de Paiva e o chefe de Divisão, Luciano Cunha, foram os representantes do Serpro no marco de inauguração do sistema.

Com o Embarque + Seguro operando nos aeroportos que formam a rota de maior movimento do país, o Brasil tem agora a primeira ponte área biométrica de ponta a ponta do mundo.

Via Comunicação do Serpro

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26TH INFFINITO BRAZILIAN FILM FESTIVAL

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HERE COMES THE INFFINITO FILM FESTIVAL

From September 10 to 25th, the 26th edition, in a hybrid format, is bringing 70 US premieres, a tribute to producer Debora Ivanov and Adriana Calcanhotto’s Concert in Miami.

Click here for PRESS KIT/PHOTOS 

The Inffinito Film Festival, the largest and most relevant Brazilian film festival held abroad, reached its 26th edition. From September 10 to 25th, 70 Brazilian productions will be shown in hybrid format, all premieres in the United States (full lineup below). The festival starts with an outdoor event in Miami, marking the return of the in-person competitive screenings, now at MDC’s Tower Theater Miami and Adriana Calcanhotto’s concert at the Miami Beach Bandshell. In addition, the traditional virtual screenings, available to the American public, bring 57 films, 10 of which are documentaries, 19 short films in competition, and 28 in parallel exhibitions. Furthermore, the audience can watch the movies from Puerto Rico to Alaska at www.inff.online – the first international streaming platform dedicated exclusively to Brazilian audiovisual.

Invited by the Festival, Brazilian actors, directors, and producers will attend the event. Including actors Eduardo Moscovis and Bárbara Paz, directors Denise Saraceni, Lô Politti, and Gustavo Rosa, producers Debora Ivanov, Laís Bodanzky, Tiago Rezende and Carlos Moletta, singer Adriana Calcanhotto, in addition to journalists, sponsors, and guests.

The Inffinito Film Festival began in 1997 when Adriana L. Dutra, Cláudia Dutra, and Viviane Spinelli conceived the Brazilian Film Festival in Miami, in a year in which the Audiovisual Law was enacted in Brazil, which took Brazilian productions out of stagnation and boosted the retake movement. Since then, they have held 88 festivals in 13 cities worldwide: New York, Vancouver, London, Rome, Madrid, Barcelona, Frascati, Milan, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Bogotá, Canudos, and Miami, and screened more than 2000 Brazilian films for over 2 million people.

MUSIC AND CINEMA IN MIAMI – Opening night in Miami on September 10 at the New World Center (NWC Soundscape Park – 400 17th St, Miami Beach, FL 33139), with free admission and musical performance by the Magic Flute Institute that has been teaching ballet, singing and sweet flute to children from the outskirts of Cuiabá/MT for 24 years (www.flautamagica.org.br). After the presentation, the public will watch the renowned film Pixinguinha, um Homem Carinhoso, directed by Denise Saraceni and Allan Fiterman, starring Seu Jorge and Taís Araújo. See the movie’s official trailer at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUqSZ8J3XJg).

CURATORS – The Inffinito Film Festival’s feature films curatorship is composed of filmmaker, documentary filmmaker, and director of Circuito Inffinito Adriana L. Dutra, by film critic Ricardo Cota. Audiovisual producer Malu de Martino curates the documentaries and producer Laura Fernandes and Adriana Dutra curate short films.

COMPETITIVE FEATURE SCREENINGS – From September 11 to 16, the Competitive Feature Film Screenings will take place at Tower Theater Miami (Tower Theater Miami – 1508 SW 8th St, Miami, FL 33135). The diversity of themes and styles gives the selection of feature films in competition a panorama of contemporary Brazil. The country is experiencing a moment of immersion in its own problems, which range from existential crises (Why don’t you cry?) and family crises (Sol) to the struggles of women (Mar de Dentro) and blacks (Provisional Measure). The genres also range from ripped comedy (Welcome to Quixeramobim) to portraits of personalities as distinct as those of musician Pixinguinha (Pixinguinha, Um Homem Carinhoso) and businessman Eike Batista (Eike – Tudo ou Nada). In the parallel exhibition, the five selected films maintain the tone of plurality, especially aesthetics, showing works that dialogue with theater (Antígona 442 B.C.), memory (Doctor Gama), literature (O Auto da Boa Mentira), and the constant struggle for ancestral recognition of indigenous peoples (Rama Pankararu). These films offer the viewer a unique opportunity to get to know the problems, but above all, the cultural wealth of Brazil, a country that finds its most complete translation in art.

AWARDS AND ADRIANA CALCANHOTTO CONCERT – The closing ceremony with the Crystal Lens Award for the Best Film chosen by the public will take place on September 17, at the Miami Beach Bandshell (7275 Collins Ave, Miami Beach, FL 33141), with a performance of the band Johnny’s at 6:00 pm, followed by the film Amazon/Amazônia, by Thierry Ragobert, at 7:00 pm and Adriana Calcanhotto in Concert, at 8:30 pm.

VIRTUAL SHOW – From September 10 to 25th, the program for the entire American territory will take place on http://www.inff.online. 57 film screenings in 8 virtual rooms (10 films are part of the documentary competitions, 19 of the short film competitions, and 28 film screenings)

TRIBUTE TO DEBORA IVANOV – The 26th Inffinito Brazilian Film Festival pays tribute to the producer Debora Ivanov with a special exhibition. Debora is responsible for the production of more than 60 Brazilian films. A lawyer by education and training, she was director of the Audiovisual Industry Union of the State of São Paulo and was a member of the SPCine Advisory Board. She founded the Querô Institute in Santos, an NGO aimed at low-income young people in the port region of Santos that promotes training in the audiovisual industry. In 2000, she became a partner at the production company Gullane Filmes, producing dozens of films, among them Que Horas Ela Volta?, Até Que a Sorte Nos Separe, Uma História de Amor e Fúria, among many others. She was appointed director of ANCINE in 2015. In 2017, she assumed the presidency of the Agency until 2020.

DOCUMENTARIES – The size of Brazil is proportional to the diversity of themes that permeate the stories that documentarists submitted to this selection. The variety was so great that the curatorship decided to propose clippings to bring a broader panorama of what makes up Brazilian filmmakers’ recent crop of documentaries. Others were added to the consolidated Competitive Screenings: “Ritmos do Brasil,” which travels through the plurality of Brazilian music, and “Brasil Urgente,” which highlights the most current topics these days.

TICKETS

– Opening night at New World Center Soundscape Park – Free event

– In-person Show Ticket at Tower Theater Miami – $15.00 – https://www.towertheatermiami.com/

– Ticket Award Night and show by Adriana Calcanhotto

https://www.northbeachbandshell.com/events#/events?event_id=44964

– Ticket for Virtual Exhibition at Inff.online – $8.88 – www.inff.online

The following companies and governments support the 26th Inffinito Brazilian Film Festival:

SPONSORSHIPS 2022

This program is sponsored by the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners, Miami-Dade County Tourist Development Council, City of Miami Beach Cultural Affairs Program and Cultural Arts Council, Garcia Family Foundation and Titanio Films.

Inffinito Ambassadors: Laura Fernandes, Liliana Kawase and Renata Garcia

Official Hotel: Palihouse – Miami Beach

Support: MDC’s Tower Theater Miami, Miami Beach Bandshell, Little Brazil Restaurant, and ATC Cargo

Media Support: AcheiUSA Newspaper, Happens Magazine, Radio Florida Brazil

Promotion: GloboPlay

Festival Friends: BACC – Brazilian American Chamber of Commerce of Florida, Centro Cultural Brazil USA, Downtown Doral Charter Upper School, Ronald W. Regan Doral Senior High, Gulliver Prep, Morningside K8 Academy, Miami Be Happy, NExperience, Talita Pinheiro PA, Sfihas Brazil, Rejuvchip, One Concept Clinic, Florida International University, and New World Center.

Directed and Produced by Inffinito

The São Paulo Symphony Presents The Amazon Concert Sights & Sounds of Brazil

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Saturday, October 15 • 8:00pm
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall

São Paulo Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop, conductor
Marcello Dantas, visual director

Dazzling images of the Amazon, seen through the eyes of its myriad species, ash above the stage of Carnegie Hall as Marin Alsop and the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra perform music of Villa-Lobos, Clarice Assad, Philip Glass, Tom Jobim, and others. Conceived by Visual Director Marcello Dantas, renowned for his fusion of art and technology.

 

ORDER NOW! CarnegieHall.org
CarnegieCharge: 212.247.7800
Box Oce: 57th St. & 7th Ave.

TICKETS START AT $30

Brazil’s new grid security rules fueling tech investments by power firms

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New network security protocols imposed on generation and transmission companies by Brazil’s national grid operator ONS are fueling an already growing market of cybersecurity and data protection supplying the power sector.

“In the last three or four years, with the expansion of industry 4.0, companies in the electricity sector have been modernizing their structures, especially regarding automation. But there is still much to be done. And with the new ONS requirements, that demand has increased even more,” Mario Lopes, commercial and alliance director at cybersecurity solutions integrator Secureway, told BNamericas.

By Bnamericas.

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Brazil crypto exchange Mercado Bitcoin to expand into Mexico this year, says CEO

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SoftBank-backed Brazilian crypto exchange Mercado Bitcoin is set to enter the Mexican market by the end of the year, as part of a plan to expand elsewhere in Latin America, its chief executive told Reuters.

“Certainly, in the second half of the year we start operating in Mexico,” Mercado Bitcoin’s CEO, Reinaldo Rabelo, said in an interview, adding that talks for regulatory approval in the country are in their final stages.

Rabelo said the move will be done through an acquisition, mirroring the way Mercado Bitcoin’s holding company 2TM entered Portugal earlier this year when it bought Lisbon-based exchange CriptoLoja.

Reporting by Paula Arend Laier; Writing by Peter Frontini; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama via Reuters

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MercadoLibre Receives $233 Million From Goldman Sachs to Expand Loans in Brazil, Mexico

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Argentine online marketplace MercadoLibre Inc said on Monday it received a private financing line of $233 million from Goldman Sachs to expand its credit offer in Brazil and Mexico.

The company intends to, through its lending unit Mercado Credito, increase its loan offers to individuals and small and medium-sized companies in both countries.

Of the total figure, $106 million will be destined for Brazil and $127 million for Mexico, MercadoLibre said in a statement.

Reporting by Alberto Alerigi Jr.; Writing by Peter Frontini; Editing by Sam Holmes by Reuters via U.S. News & World Report

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Shell invests $40 million in carbon credit projects in Brazil

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Shell said on Monday it has invested $40 million into a Brazilian preservation-focused company.

Carbon credit developer Carbonext runs preservation projects across more than 2 million hectares (4.9 million acres) of the Amazon Forest that are owned by companies seeking to capitalize on the carbon market.

Carbonext then generates carbon credits that can be sold. Shell will now have preferential access to the company’s carbon market, although will not receive discounted prices.

Reporting by Rafaella Barros; Writing by Carolina Pulice; Editing by Christian Schmollinger via Reuters

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Google outlines infrastructure investment in Brazil, announces new office

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Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Google Cloud announced on Tuesday it has invested 1.6 billion reais ($312.65 million) in technical infrastructure since 2017 in Brazil, as well as the opening of a new office and engineering center in the country.

Google Cloud investments have been aimed at “helping the company’s customers diversify their service portfolios, extend their digital capabilities, and drive new business,” the company said at the Google for Brazil event in Sao Paulo, the country’s financial capital.

“During this (five-year) period, an amount of 1.6 billion reais was allocated to improve Google Cloud’s technical infrastructure in Brazil.”

Google also announced the opening of a new engineering center in Sao Paulo and a new Google Cloud office in 2023.

In January, Google said it was set to hire 200 engineers in Brazil this year, as it seeks to bolster its privacy, security, and anti-abusive content technologies.

Reporting by Steven Grattan Editing by Bernadette Baum via Reuters

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Por que o Brasil atrai empresas globais de criptomoedas?

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Mercado de criptomoedas no país já atrai mais investidores do que a Bolsa.

O Brasil está entre os cinco países com o maior número de investidores em criptomoedas, algo que não passa despercebido pelas empresas globais do setor. Gigantes como Binance, Coinbase, FTX e Crypto.com já possuem presença local, e a tendência é que, com a chegada do marco regulatório das criptomoedas, mais delas venham para ficar.

Cerca de 10 milhões de brasileiros já investem em criptomoedas, segundo um estudo da Binance em parceria com a TripleA divulgado no ano passado. O número corresponde a 5% da população e é maior que o total de investidores pessoas físicas cadastrados na B3 – cerca de 4 milhões.

Acompanhe em primeira mão o conteúdo do Forbes Money no Telegram

O Brasil fica atrás apenas de Índia, Estados Unidos, Rússia e Nigéria em número de investidores em criptomoedas.

Sean Rach, ex-CMO da Crypto.com e cofundador da plataforma de serviços financeiros Hi, afirma que a desvalorização do real em relação ao dólar é um dos principais fatores que tornam as criptomoedas tão atrativas aos brasileiros. “Além da capacidade de inovação e de criação de soluções nesse ecossistema, o que abre diversas oportunidades”, acrescenta.

Por Isabella Velleda via Forbes

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Colombia’s Avianca and Brazil’s GOL to join forces, creating uncertainty for US partners

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Two of Latin America’s biggest airlines are joining forces.

Avianca, the flag carrier of Colombia, and GOL, the third-largest airline in Brazil, will come together under a new holding company called Abra Group Limited, which will own both airlines.

Each airline will maintain its own brand and continue to operate separately. When the deal closes, expected in the second half of this year, Abra Group will operate similarly to the large airline holding company in Europe –  International Airlines Group (IAG), which owns British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus and other smaller airlines.

Abra will also own low-cost carriers Viva Colombia and Viva Peru, which recently announced plans to join Avianca, while keeping operations independent.

Even though these airlines will all remain independent, there may be some awkward uncertainties for two major U.S. airlines: American and United.

By Ethan Klapper via The Points Guy.

Read full article.

Luiza Trajano recebe prêmio de Personalidade do Ano em Nova York

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Depois de dois anos de adiamento do evento, Luiza Trajano recebeu ontem (9) o prêmio de Personalidade do Ano pela Câmara do Comércio Brasil-Estados Unidos de Nova York

Luiza Helena Trajano, a presidente do conselho de administração do Magazine Luiza, recebeu ontem (9) o prêmio de “Personalidade do Ano” pela Câmara do Comércio Brasil-Estados Unidos de Nova York. Ela é a terceira mulher e segunda brasileira a receber a homenagem que é realizada desde 1970 – sempre a duas figuras importantes do Brasil e dos Estados Unidos que se destacaram no relacionamento entre os dois países.

A nomeação de “Person of the Year” aconteceu no início de 2020; mas, por conta da pandemia de Covid-19, foi adiada por dois anos. Em entrevista à Forbes, que organizou uma festa relacionada à premiação, a homenageada destacou a responsabilidade que acompanha o título: “Sinto que minha responsabilidade como empresária e líder da sociedade civil só aumenta”.

Por Redação Glamour/Globo.com

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BNDES Director Offers New Insights on Development of Brazilian Blockchain Network

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Gladstone Arantes, a director of the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES), gave new details about the progress of the Brazilian Blockchain Network, a project that has been in development since 2018. The network will be created on top of the Hyperledger Besu 2.0, which uses a proof-of-authority consensus mechanism. The final goal of this project is to move public spending to the network in order to increase the transparency of these fund movements.

Brazilian Blockchain Network Advances

The Brazilian Blockchain Network, a project that was conceived back in 2018, is now in its development phase. Gladstone Arantes, head of blockchain initiatives at the Development Bank of the country (BNDES), revealed new insights about the development and the technical data of the project. At the Ethereum.Rio event, Arantes stated the project had selected Hyperledger Besu 2.0 to be its base platform, and that the network would also be using a proof-of-authority consensus system.

Proof-of-authority means there will be no mining on top of the chain, and that state actors will maintain control of the network. This follows the premise of simplifying the operation of the blockchain, so it’s possible to be easily understood by anyone wanting to examine it.

by Sergio Goschenko via Bitcoin.com

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Biden to Sign Crypto Order as Firms Face Sanctions Pressure

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President Joe Biden is set to sign an executive order this week that will outline the U.S. government’s strategy for cryptocurrencies, according to people familiar with the administration’s plans.

The order will direct federal agencies to examine potential regulatory changes, as well as the national security and economic impact of digital assets, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing the deliberations. The White House’s approach to crypto has attracted fresh attention in recent weeks after the U.S. and its allies levied sanctions on Russia, prompting concerns that organizations and individuals could use crypto to evade the restrictions.

U.S.-Brazil CEO Forum Call for Applications 2022-2025 TERM

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The Department of Commerce is calling for applications for all 12 U.S. Section seats on the U.S.-Brazil CEO Forum for the 2022-2025 term

The Department seeks to appoint U.S. Section members who represent a diversity of business sectors and geographic locations, consist of a range of small, medium, and large firms, and are reflective of the diversity of the U.S. population. The Forum provides business leaders with the opportunity to impact the U.S.-Brazil trade relationship and improve conditions for doing business in Brazil. To qualify, a candidate must be a CEO or president (or have a comparable level of responsibility) of a U.S.-owned or -controlled company that is incorporated or otherwise organized in and has its main headquarters in the United States and that is currently doing business in both Brazil and the United States.

To apply, please visit the linked Federal Register Notice. The application period will close on April 1, 2022.

Attached is the application document, a new element in the application process. (Note: The requested information on the top portion (points 1-10) does not need to be filled out on the application itself, and can be supplied in the format most convenient for the applicant. However, the second part (point 11) will need to be completed, signed and included with any supporting documents).

Background: Launched in 2007, the U.S.-Brazil CEO Forum consists of up to 24 CEOs from the United States and Brazil, who provide joint recommendations to the two governments to strengthen the U.S.-Brazil economic and trade relationship. The forum has successfully opened discussions between the United States and Brazilian governments on several important issues, including visa and tax reform, customs procedures, education, energy, defense trade, and infrastructure.

For more information please visit:

Federal Register Notice: 87 FR 9313

U.S.-Brazil CEO Forum Website: www.trade.gov/us-brazil-ceo- forum

Department of Commerce Press
Press: Press Release
Social Media: Twitter & LinkedIn

Contact
For inquiries and to request an application, please contact:

Christopher Di Trolio
Office of Latin America and the Caribbean
International Trade Administration U.S. Department of Commerce
Christopher.DiTrolio@trade.gov

Learn more

Vivo e Google Fazem Parceria para Levar Ferramentas Digitais a Escolas

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Com a solução das duas empresas, as escolas públicas e privadas terão maior suporte e ferramentas para se digitalizar

A Vivo Empresas firmou parceria com o Google para criar um pacote de serviços voltado para pequenas e médias instituições de ensino pelo Brasil no setor público e privado. Com a solução em conjunto, as escolas terão maior suporte e ferramentas para se digitalizar.

A transformação digital ao longo da pandemia afetou todos os setores, mas houve perdas ao longo desse processo e alguns tiveram mais dificuldades na adaptação. É o caso para escolas de pequeno e médio porte pelo Brasil.

Entre 2020 e 2021, a rede privada teve queda de 8,8 milhões para 8,1 milhões de matriculados. Enquanto isso, a rede pública teve leve aumento de matrículas chegando a 38,5 milhões de alunos.

Segundo Rodrigo Pimentel, head de Google for Education, a parceria vai ajudar a democratizar o acesso à tecnologia e ajudar as escolas a se adaptar no momento de hibridismo.

Mesmo com a vacinação de crianças e o retorno às aulas presenciais, uma espécie de modelo híbrido também vai acontecer na educação.

Por Luísa Granato via Exame

 

 

Elizabeth Bagley Nominated as next U.S. Ambassador to Brazil

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President Biden Announces Nominees for Ambassadors and Key Roles

President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate the following leaders to serve as key leaders in his administration:

  • Elizabeth Bagley, Nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Federative Republic of Brazil
  • Jane Hartley, Nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
  • Alexander Laskaris, Nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Chad
  • Alan Leventhal, Nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of Denmark
  • Kathryn Huff, Nominee for Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, Department of Energy
  • Deborah Coen, Nominee for Member of the National Council on the Humanities
  • William Brodsky, Nominee for Member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation

Elizabeth Bagley, Nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Federative Republic of Brazil

Elizabeth Bagley has worked in diplomacy and the law for over four decades. Her diplomatic experience includes service as Senior Advisor to Secretaries of State John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, and Madeline Albright. She has also served as Special Representative to the United Nations General Assembly, Special Representative for Global Partnerships, and United States Ambassador to Portugal.

Bagley is currently the owner and Board member of SBI., a cellular communications company in Show Low, AZ. Previously, Bagley served as Of Counsel to Manatt, Phelps law firm in Washington, D.C., specializing in international law. She also worked as Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University Law Center and as Associate Producer for ABC News in Paris, France and Washington, DC. Earlier in her career, Bagley served in the State Department as congressional liaison for the Panama Canal Treaties, Special Assistant for the Camp David Accords and Congressional liaison to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Accords) in Madrid, Spain. Bagley earned a B.A. at Regis College, Weston, Massachusetts, and a J.D. at Georgetown University Law Center.

She is the recipient of numerous honors, including the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Honor Award, the Meridian International Public Diplomacy Award and the Grand Cross of Prince Henry the Navigator, Portugal’s highest civilian honor.

Via The White House

Read full article here.

This Brazilian Billionaire Should Be Your Role Model for Corporate Activism

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Luiza Helena Trajano, high-profile leader of Brazilian commerce giant Magazine Luiza, epitomizes how successful entrepreneurs can be great social activists.

Super-rich entrepreneurs love to explore brash endeavors outside the mainstream of their business—say, the high-profile space race between Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, or Larry Ellison’s obsession with the America’s Cup. But it remains genuinely rare, and worthy of attention, when a billionaire entrepreneur takes a hard look at the society around their business and commits to brash endeavors to challenge inequality, racism, and the crisis fueled by COVID-19.

That’s precisely what’s happening in Brazil, where Luiza Helena Trajano, the longtime leader of one of the country’s most celebrated companies, is generating headlines for her outsized commitments to social justice and public health. Trajano is the high-profile face of a giant electronics-and-appliance retailer named Magazine Luiza (in Portuguese, a “magazine” is a small store that sells a wide range of merchandise). Trajano’s company has become a legendary growth story whose 1,400 stores transformed retailing in Brazil, made her a billionaire, and turned a 70-year-old, 4-foot-nine-inch woman into a homespun business celebrity.

By Bill Taylor via Fast Company

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Billionaire’s Star Rises as She Takes Bold Stance on Racism in Brazil

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SÃO PAULO, Brazil — It was a casual conversation that led Luiza Trajano, one of Brazil’s wealthiest women, to ponder her country’s racism, to recognize her part in it — and to do something about it.

A few years back, she said, she had heard a young, accomplished Black businesswoman mention that she never attended happy hours with colleagues unless her boss explicitly asked her to join. Years of feeling the rejection that many Black Brazilians experience in predominantly white settings had taught her to seek clear invitations, the woman explained.

Ms. Trajano, who is white, felt a pang of sadness. Then an uncomfortable thought crossed her mind.

“At my birthday parties, there aren’t any Black women,” Ms. Trajano remembered thinking. “That’s structural racism that, in my case, is not born out of rejection, but out of failing to seek them out.”

That moment of introspection for Ms. Trajano, who had turned a small family business into a retail behemoth, helped plant the seeds for a bold corporate affirmative action initiative, which has drawn praise, outrage and plenty of soul searching in Brazil.

By Ernesto Londoño via The New York Times 

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Brazil’s BNDES postpones public hearing on Eletrobras privatization to January

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Brazilian state-run power company Eletrobras (ELET6.SA) said on Monday that a public hearing to be held by state development bank BNDES on its privatization process has been postponed to Jan. 5 from Dec. 22.

Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA, as the company is formally known, did not provide details on the delay. The Brazilian government expects to privatize the company by the second quarter of 2022, according to Mining and Energy Minister Bento Alburquerque.

Reporting by Gabriel Araujo. Editing by Jane Merriman via Reuters

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AmEx, fintech startup expand ‘credit passport’ to Brazilian immigrants

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American Express and a San Francisco-based fintech startup are offering tens of thousands of Brazilians in Massachusetts a chance to use their credit histories from their native country to build their credit in the U.S.

American Express and Nova Credit announced Tuesday the opening of eligibility for their “credit passport” to Brazil, as well as the Dominican Republic, Kenya and Nigeria. That’s in addition to Australia, Canada, India, Mexico and the United Kingdom and other countries added in the two years the companies have worked together.

“In a nutshell, we can take an immigrant who would have otherwise been rejected because they don’t have a US credit file and we’re able to get them approved and access their journey of building their own U.S. credit file,” said Misha Esipov, co-founder and CEO of Nova Credit.

By Steph Solis  –  Digital Editor, Boston Business Journal

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Brazil will have sold off dozens of airports by end of 2022, government says

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Brazil is auctioning airports in what the government describes as a bid to raise investments and modernize infrastructure.

Sixteen airports will be auctioned — including Congonhas in São Paulo, and Santos Dumont in Rio de Janeiro — by the end of 2022, the government said in a tweet Wednesday.
They add to the 34 airports already auctioned by Brazil since 2019, which raised around 34 billion Brazilian real (US$ 6 billion), the government said.
“It is strategic for Brazil to transfer control of airports to the private sector in order to increase investments and the quality of services,” it added.

By Hande Atay Alam, CNN

Brazil emerges from Covid ‘nightmare’ through vaccination blitz

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After suffering one of the world’s worst Covid-19 disasters, Brazil is staging a turnround with a steep drop in deaths and a mass inoculation campaign as it beefs up its ability to manufacture coronavirus shots.

During a devastating second wave of infections earlier this year, Latin America’s most populous nation was the epicentre of the global outbreak, peaking at more than 4,200 fatalities recorded in a single 24-hour period in April.

But daily deaths from the disease have since fallen to under 200 on a seven-day rolling average, with the rate per 100,000 residents currently below the US, EU and UK.

By Michael Pooler in São Paulo via Financial Times 

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Biden mantém comando do BC dos EUA: entenda o que isso significa para a economia

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Alta da inflação influenciou a decisão do presidente de continuidade em política monetária, segundo analistas

Ao escolher manter Jerome Powell em seu cargo, Joe Biden provou que aprendeu uma lição valiosa com o ex-presidente Barack Obama sobre a importância da continuidade ante o partidarismo durante tempos econômicos desafiadores.

O atual presidente do Federal Reserve, o banco central dos Estados Unidos, foi indicado para o cargo pelo ex-presidente Donald Trump em 2017.

Assim como Obama manteve Ben Bernanke no cargo após a Grande Recessão de 2008, apesar de ter sido indicado pelo republicano George W. Bush, Biden reconheceu que faz sentido manter Powell para que ele possa continuar no comando da recuperação pós-Covid.

Por Paul R. La Monica via CNN Business

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Investimentos e Parcerias Fazem do Ceará Pioneiro em Hidrogênio Verde

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O estado aposta na formação de um ecossistema de desenvolvimento do combustível do futuro, debatido em um seminário internacional online e gratuito.

“Acredito que um dia a água será usada como combustível, que o hidrogênio e o oxigênio que a constituem, usados de forma isolada ou simultânea, oferecerão uma fonte inesgotável de calor e luz a uma intensidade superior à do carvão mineral”.

Em mais de uma ocasião, a previsão do escritor Júlio Verne, publicada em 1875 no romance A Ilha Misteriosa, foi citada no Centro de Eventos do Ceará na manhã de 14 de outubro. Diante de uma plateia híbrida, composta por participantes presenciais e com transmissão gratuita pela internet, 14 autoridades e especialistas se revezaram no Seminário Internacional Hidrogênio Verde no Ceará.

By Governo do Ceará via Valor Econômico

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Cash-Rich Tech Companies Are Remaking Post-Pandemic Manhattan

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High-profile purchases, leasing deals and hiring have seen technology companies threaten to upend Wall Street’s historic role as New York’s dominant industry.

Google made waves in Manhattan real estate when it bought the iconic Chelsea Market and its 2.9 million-square-foot New York headquarters building within a few years of each other in the past decade. The technology giant followed up last month with the largest U.S. real estate transaction since the pandemic, a $2.1-billion purchase of the under-construction St. John’s Terminal.

Google’s takeover of Manhattan’s West Side has been mirrored to varying degrees by Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook and Salesforce, each of which has established a campus in the city.  The surge in real estate occupancy shows how technology companies are rapidly displacing counterparts in banking and finance as the city’s biggest industry in the aftermath of the pandemic: Big tech also leads in employment growth and by volume of companies.

Two decades ago, Tim Armstrong, 50, became Google’s first New York-based employee. “If you were having a cocktail party for all the people who worked in the internet in New York, you could fit them all in a bar,” Armstrong says. “Now I’m guessing you’d have to take over Madison Square Garden, plus the Javits Center to fit everybody in.”

By David Jeans via Forbes.

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SBA’s Hurricane Ida Assistance Tops $160 million in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania

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ATLANTA – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has put more than $160 million in financial assistance into the hands of residents of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania to help them recover from the damages caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida. As of Oct. 13, the SBA had approved 3,319 loans for a total of $160,671,100. “Hurricane Ida cut a wide swath of damage, and SBA’s mission-driven team is working hard to help affected small businesses and residents with their recoveries,” said Kem Fleming, Director of the SBA’s Field Operations Center East. “We’re committed to providing federal disaster loans swiftly and efficiently, with a customer-centric approach to help businesses and communities recover and rebuild.”

Businesses, homeowners, renters and private nonprofit organizations in 28 primary counties in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania are eligible to apply for physical disaster loans from the SBA. Those include the New York counties of Bronx, Kings, Nassau, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk and Westchester; the New Jersey counties of Bergen, Essex, Gloucester, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Union and Warren; and the Pennsylvania counties of Bedford, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, Northampton, Philadelphia, and York.

Small businesses and most private nonprofit organizations in counties adjacent to the primary counties are eligible to apply only for SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans.

To be considered for all forms of disaster assistance, applicants should register online at DisasterAssistance.gov or download the FEMA mobile app. If online or mobile access is unavailable, applicants should call the FEMA toll-free helpline at 800-621-3362. Those who use 711-Relay or Video Relay Services should call 800-621-3362.

Businesses and individuals should then complete and return an SBA disaster loan application by visiting DisasterLoanAssistance.sba.gov. They can also obtain individual assistance at one of the recovery centers established in all three states. Locations and hours can be obtained here:

NY Ida Recovery Centers

NJ Ida Recovery Centers

PA Ida Recovery Centers

Businesses and individuals can ask questions, obtain loan applications or other information by calling the SBA’s Customer Service Center at 1-800-659-2955 (1-800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of hearing) or emailing DisasterCustomerService@sba.gov.

Loan applications can also be downloaded at sba.gov/disaster.

Completed applications should be mailed to: U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.

About the U.S. Small Business Administration The U.S. Small Business Administration makes the American dream of business ownership a reality. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow or expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations.

To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.

U.S. to relax travel restrictions for vaccinated foreign air travelers in November

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The United States will reopen in November to air travelers from 33 countries including China, India, Brazil and most of Europe who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the White House said on Monday, easing tough pandemic-related restrictions that started early last year.

The decision, announced by White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients, marked an abrupt shift for President Joe Biden’s administration, which said last week it was not the right time to lift any restrictions amid rising COVID-19 cases.

The United States had lagged many other countries in lifting such restrictions, and allies welcomed the move. The U.S. restrictions have barred travelers from most of the world including tens of thousands of foreign nationals with relatives or business links in the United States.

The United States will admit fully vaccinated air travelers from the 26 so-called Schengen countries in Europe including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Greece, as well as Britain, Ireland, China, India, South Africa, Iran and Brazil. The unprecedented U.S. restrictions have barred non-U.S. citizens who were in those countries within the past 14 days.

By  and 

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Brazil set to expand public Wi-Fi network

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A new agreement will see the expansion of Brazil’s public Wi-Fi hotspots network to improve public service provision in locations lacking Internet connectivity.

Under the technical cooperation agreements signed between the Banco do Brasil Foundation and the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (SEBRAE) with the Ministry of Communications, some 1,000 locations nationwide will benefit from approximately 500 new Wi-Fi hotspots to be implemented by 2022.

The current free Wi-Fi network with satellite-based Internet consists of over 14,000 hotspots across 3,000 Brazilian municipalities, mostly located in the North and Northeast of Brazil. Some 11,000 schools use the hotspots, as well as 1,000 healthcare facilities and 475 Indigenous communities.

By Angelica Mari for Brazil Tech

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Luiza Trajano Joins Time’s List of Most Influential People

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Luiza Helena Trajano, the Brazilian recipient of the 2020 Person of the Year Awards of the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce, Inc., based in New York City.

Businesswoman is the only Brazilian among the 100 names of 2021 elected by the American magazine

Businesswoman Luiza Helena Trajano, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Magazine Luiza, was elected by the American magazine Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. She is the only Brazilian on the 2021 list.

Some names on the list are British Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka, American gymnast Simone Biles, US President Joe Biden, and his vice Kamala Harris, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Russian opponent Alexei Navalni, singers Britney Spears and Billie Eilish, and Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar.

Translated by Kiratiana Freelon via Folha de São Paulo.

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Read the article in the original language

IMF Managing Director Appoints Ilan Goldfajn as Director of the Western Hemisphere Department

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Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), announced today her intention to appoint Mr. Ilan Goldfajn as Director of the Fund’s Western Hemisphere Department (WHD). Mr. Goldfajn will assume his role as the head of the IMF’s department in charge of relations with member countries in the Americas on January 3, 2022. He will succeed Alejandro Werner, whose retirement from the Fund was previously announced.

“I am delighted that Ilan will join our team as the new WHD Director. He has an impressive experience in the public and private sectors and is highly respected as an academic. His proven track record as a policymaker, communicator, as well as his depth of knowledge as an international finance executive and his familiarity with the Fund’s work will be invaluable in helping our member countries in the region,” Ms. Georgieva stated.

Mr. Goldfajn was Governor of the Banco Central do Brazil (BCB) from May 2016 until February 2019. During his tenure at the BCB, he oversaw implementation of significant regulatory changes that opened the door to new players in the financial services industry, spurred innovation and digitalization, and fostered the growth of fintech companies that has had a positive impact on Brazil’s financial sector. In 2017, he was elected Central Banker of the Year by The Banker magazine; and the year after, he was named Best Central Banker by Global Finance magazine.

MEDIA RELATIONS
PRESS OFFICER: RAPHAEL ANSPACH via IMF Communications Department

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Tribute to H.E. Ambassador Carlos Eduardo Alves de Souza (1933-2021)

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Tribute to H.E. Ambassador Carlos Eduardo Alves de Souza

(September 21, 1933 – August 26, 2021)

 

On behalf of the Board of Directors of The Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce, we regretfully inform you of the passing, on August 26, 2021, of Ambassador Carlos Eduardo Alves de Souza.

Ambassador Alves de Souza was born on September 21, 1933, to Wladimir Alves de Souza and Maria Adélia in Rio de Janeiro.

His diplomatic career spanned more than 40 years and many different countries. He served as Ambassador of Brazil to the Czech Republic, Paraguay, and Switzerland. He also held several senior positions in Brasília, including the Office of the President in 1985. Ambassador Alves de Souza served as Consul General of Brazil in New York between 1981 and 1984. His interaction with the Chamber strengthened ties between Brazil and the United States and furthered the Chamber’s mission of promoting trade and investment between the two nations. He retired in 2001 to Rio de Janeiro and focused on his family, friends, golf, and his beloved soccer team, Flamengo.

Our heartfelt condolences go out to the family and friends of Ambassador Carlos Eduardo Alves de Souza as we mourn his passing.

Brazil: Brazilian Data Protection Law (LGPD) Administrative Sanctions Came Into Force

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On August 1, 2021, the administrative sanctions provided for the Brazilian Data Protection Law (LGPD) – Law No. 13.709/2018 (the “Law”) came into force and will be applied by the Brazilian Data Protection Authority (ANPD).

LGPD provides that data processing agents (controller and processor) who violate the rules provided for in the Law will be subject to:

 

By Cristiane Manzueto and Eduardo Maccari Telles via Mondaq

 

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Swisscom turns to AWS for enterprise IT, 5G core on cloud

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Swisscom (SCMN.S) plans to switch to the cloud platform of Amazon Web Services (AWS) (AMZN.O) for a range of applications which power its enterprise resource planning, operational support system, and analytics and contact center.

The Swiss telecom operator and AWS said in a joint statement they will also look to migrate Swisscom’s 5G network built on current infrastructure to a new, standalone 5G network powered by AWS’s cloud platform.

Reporting by Clara-Laeila Laudette and Supantha Mukherjee. Editing by Sonya Hepinstall via Reuters.

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6 Photographers That Made Photos of Brazil Show Its Beautiful Diversity

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Brazil is certainly a country of great interest. For many, it’s a beautiful holiday destination. But for millions of natives, it’s a difficult place to exist. Because of its diversity, many photographers have made photos of Brazil. Some show its glory, while others show its reality. In this piece, we look back at the work we’ve featured that explores the truth of the largest country in Latin America.

 

By Dan Ginn via Yahoo Finance

 

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Brazil aiming to reduce gas reinjection

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In an attempt to reduce reinjections of natural gas back into wells at production sites, the Brazilian government has created new rules to facilitate the development of gas-fired power plants, with the start of dispatch set for 2026.

Natural gas reinjection takes place when producers inject gas back into the well in order to increase the flow of crude oil from the well, or else sequester gas that cannot be exported. The practice is common among oil producers in Brazil, as the country does not have sufficient natural gas transportation or processing capacity available, as well as little demand for gas-fired power.

 

By Flávia Pierry via Argus Media

 

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Embraer and Brazilian air force to study development of advanced UAV

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Embraer and the Brazilian air force have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly study the design and development of an “advanced unmanned aircraft system”.

Few details about the unmanned air vehicle (UAV) were revealed by Embraer in its announcement on 23 April. However, the company distributed a rendering, for “illustrated purposes only”, of a stealthy UAV with short swept wings, perhaps indicating a combat role.

 

By Garrett Reim via Flight Global

 

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Brazil completes first-ever video call on standalone 5G

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The first ever video call on standalone 5G in Latin America has been completed in Brazil as part of a series of supplier demonstrations to the government ahead of the upcoming fifth-generation spectrum auction.

The video call, made on Friday (9) from Nokia’s Brazilian headquarters in São Paulo, connected Brazil’s communications minister Fabio Faria to president Jair Bolsonaro, who was in Brasília at the time.

 

By Angelica Mari via ZD Net

 

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At Stanford, Young Lawyer and POY Fellow Develops Social EdTech to Democratize Law and Help Students in Brazilian Public Schools

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While pursuing his master’s degree at Stanford University, Felipe Neves, 2018 POY Fellow, created Civics Educação, a platform for practical legal courses (at low cost), which are sold to finance scholarships for low-income public-school students.

The lawyers who teach these courses represent the most well-known law offices in Brazil, including Pinheiro Neto, Machado Meyer, Demarest, Lobo de Rizzo, Baptista Luz, and Trench Rossi & Watanabe, among others.

In addition, Civics offers free courses for public school teachers and students, such as Constitutional Law in the Classroom, Access to Justice, and Curriculum Preparation, to prepare young professionals for job opportunities.

Civics works like this: by purchasing one of the courses, the client contributes directly to financing scholarships for low-income public-school students and to the production of new courses. These new courses are then sold to finance new scholarships and new courses, creating one of the largest legal education platforms in Brazil and helping low-income public-school students who want and need to study.

The democratization of law and education is not something new to Felipe.  He is Founder of the NGO Project Constitutional Law in School (Projeto Constituição na Escola) (www.constituicaonasescolas.com.br), the largest civic education NGO in Brazil, which promotes face-to-face classes on Constitutional Law for thousands public-school students.

Felipe was elected as one of the most influential people by Forbes 30 Under 30 (2018), selected as a Person of the Year Fellow by the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce (2018), chosen as one of the 11 young Brazilian leaders by the Obama Foundation (2017), and named Young Leader of America by the United States Government (2016). He is still the youngest lawyer to have received the Innovare Award from the Brazilian Ministry of Justice (2017).

Given his experience with Projeto Constituição na Escola, Felipe was inspired to democratize other areas of law and make quality legal education accessible and affordable.

Civics already has 20 courses available online, including Business Law, Civil Procedure, Digital Law, Law and Startups, Arbitration, Contract Law, Real Estate Law, Mergers and Acquisitions, Sports Law, and Constitutional Law – while dozens of other courses are being produced.

Learn more here.

7 Absolutely Beautiful Places In Brazil

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Brazil is a country of superlatives. The world’s fifth-largest country, it makes up nearly 50 percent of the South American continent and has 4,000 airports. Its main river, the Amazon, is the world’s largest by volume, growing up to 30 miles wide during the rainy season. Brazil has 21 UNESCO World Heritage sites and is one of the most bio-diverse countries in the world, with some four million plant and animal species, and new ones being discovered nearly daily. Its 3,287,597 square miles encompass cities, beaches, mountains, plains, forests, and every other habitat you could possibly think of.

Even if you lived in Brazil for 10 lifetimes and explored ceaselessly, you’d never see it all. What you can do though, is to try and see some of the most beautiful spots spread across the vastness. As beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and the definition of beauty varies greatly, I have chosen a mix of a little bit of every kind of beauty for you to pick and choose to visit next time you get down to Brazil.

 

By Ulrike Lemmin-Woolfrey

 

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The Best National Parks To Visit In Brazil

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Editor’s Note: *Due to the current Covid-19 outbreak, international travel is discouraged at the moment – this article is meant to serve as inspiration for a future trip once the pandemic has come to an end.*

A nation rich in culture, biodiversity, and natural beauty, there’s no shortage of spectacular destinations to visit all throughout Brazil. While many visitors choose to spend time celebrating Carnival in the streets of Rio, those who wish to experience the wild side of Brazil may be interested in a trek across some of the country’s most stunning national parks. From surging rivers to colossal canyons, the natural beauty of Brazil is truly a sight to behold.

 

By Jared Ranahan via Forbes

 

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Brazil and UK to cooperate on digital transformation and innovation

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An agreement has been signed between Brazil and the UK to accelerate digital transformation and innovation in public services delivery in the Latin American country.

Under the memorandum of understanding signed on December 29 by Acting British Ambassador to Brazil Liz Davidson and Brazilian digital secretary Luis Felipe Monteiro, the countries will be working together until March 2023.

 

By Angelica Mari via ZD Net

 

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White House Coronavirus Task Force backs restoration of inbound travel from Brazil, UK and Europe, sources say

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The White House Coronavirus Task Force has recommended to President Donald Trump that the United States begin allowing travelers into the country from Brazil, the United Kingdom and the 27 countries in the European Union, according to two officials involved in the discussions.

If Trump signs off on the policy proposal, it would reverse bans on inbound travel for U.S. allies put into place at the beginning of the pandemic as the virus surged overseas. Travel from China and Iran, two of the earliest hotspots for the virus and from which travel was restricted in January and February, would not be relaxed, according to these officials.

 

By Kayla Tausche via CNBC

 

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Brazil trials facial recognition with retired public servants

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The Brazilian government has announced a facial recognition trial with retired public servants to support the process of periodic verification that the beneficiary is alive in order to continue receiving of benefits.

The trial underpinning the process will be carried out with 10,000 retired federal civil servants and pensioners and the participants will be able to follow the process through a people management mobile app developed for federal government staff. If the pilot is successful, the functionality will be extended to 700,000 people.

 

By Angelica Mari via ZD Net

 

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Crimefighting NGO tracks Brazil wildlife trade on WhatsApp and Facebook

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In the tropical forest surrounding Alter do Chão, a Brazilian town located on a languid stretch of the Amazon River and home to what is considered one of the most beautiful freshwater beaches in the world, monkeys, macaws, agoutis and armadillos co-habit in relative harmony.

About 33 kilometers west of the city of Santarém in Pará state, life’s slow pace in the village has long been a draw for weekend trippers and foreign tourists alike. But Alter do Chão and its surroundings, increasingly threatened by illegal loggers and poachers, is also a base for what may be one of the most innovative nonprofit organizations fighting animal trafficking in Brazil.

 

By Peter Yeung via Mongabay

 

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Brazil invests in technology development

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São Paulo – Brazil’s minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Marcos Pontes, said on Tuesday (20) that investing in technology development in Brazil, in partnership with other countries, is a way of overcoming global challenges. Pontes discussed projects under development during his participation in the Economic Forum Brazil & Arab Countries, hosted by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Arab League and the Union of Arab Chambers.

“The pandemic demands solutions that are also opportunities for small-sized companies that are able to present them. In these lines, Brazil is still struggling in educating technology professionals. The technology will be increasingly important in the composition of the country’s GDP, as it is in agriculture, healthcare, education, and several other sectors,” he said.

 

By Marcos Carrieri via Brazil-Arab News Agency

 

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Who are the best rated mayors in 12 Brazilian capitals

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Brasilia [10/10/2020]

Mayor of Salvador, ACM Neto (DEM), has the best approval rate among the mayors of 12 capitals surveyed by IBOPE.

This week, IBOPE conducted a round of electoral polls in Brazilian capitals in which it also measured the approval of the current mayors. Of the 12 capitals surveyed, only three disapprove of their mayors: Porto Alegre, Recife, and Rio de Janeiro. In São Paulo, the approval and disapproval rates register a technical tie. In the other eight capitals, the current mayors boast approvals that reach 85%, as is the case in Salvador.

Mayor Antonio Carlos Magalhães (ACM) Neto (DEM), who has governed the capital of Bahia for eight years, achieved the best performance appraisal among the 12 capitals surveyed by IBOPE. He received an 85% approval rating and only a 12% disapproval rating. For 73% of voters, the Democrat’s management can be considered good or great. Only 6% of voters consider the management to be bad or terrible.

Another who also boasts good approval ratings is the mayor of Belo Horizonte, Alexandre Kalil (PSD). He seeks re-election and boasts 76% approval in the capital of Minas Gerais, with 65% of voters considering his management as good or excellent. Kalil has only 22% disapproval among voters; 13% of them consider the management to be bad or very bad.

The mayor of Florianópolis, Gean Loureiro (DEM), who is seeking re-election, also has good rates among voters. He has the approval of 72% of voters, against 22% of disapproval. Management is considered good or excellent by 58% of voters heard by IBOPE. Another 9% consider the management to be bad or very bad and 32% consider it to be regular.

The mayor of Goiânia, Iris Rezende (MDB), also has an approval rate higher than 60%. In the capital of Goiás, 69% of voters approve the management of the PMDB party member, against 26% who disapprove it. More than half of respondents (53%) rated management as good or excellent. Another 12% consider the Rezende government to be bad or very bad.

In Curitiba, Rafael Greca (DEM), who is seeking re-election, has 68% of voter approval and a disapproval rating of 29%. More than half of Curitibanos (54%) consider the mayor’s management to be good or excellent. Another 29% consider it regular and 16%, bad or very bad.

In Natal, the approval rating of Mayor Álvaro Dias (PSDB), also a candidate for re-election, is 63%. Another 31% of voters disapprove of the PSDBista’s management. There is a technical tie between voters who classify management as good or excellent and those who classify it as regular: 42% in both cases. Another 14% consider management to be bad or very bad.

The mayors of João Pessoa, Luciano Cartaxo (PV), and Palmas, Cinthia Ribeiro (PSDB), have approval ratings above 50% – 56% and 53% respectively. “

Copyright © 2020, Gazeta do Povo. All rights reserved.

 

By Kelli Kadanus via Gazeta do Povo

 

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Jordan, Libya purchased more poultry from Brazil

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São Paulo – Poultry exports from Brazil were up 1.3% in shipped volume year-to-date through September from a year ago, the Brazilian Animal Protein Association (ABPA) reported. Sales to Arab countries such as Jordan and Libya increased.

Year-to-date through September, 3.17 million tonnes of poultry products got exported from Brazil. Export revenue was down 12.1% to USD 4.6 billion. In September, shipped volume was down 2.3% to 345,000 tonnes, while revenue was down 18.4% to USD 479 million.

 

Via Brazil-Arab News Agency

 

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Wind energy generates 19,000 jobs in Brazil

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The wind power, the second source of electric power in Brazil, behind the hydroelectric, represents 19,000 jobs in Brazil, as compared to 34,000 in 2018. Even with the fall, Brazil remains among the 10 most used in the world. this segment, behind China, Germany, United States, India, United Kingdom, Denmark, Mexico, Spain and the Philippines. The report states that, before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the wind sector was expected to expand due to planned installations.

Around 80% of this market is located in the northeast, which has the best wind conditions. The report indicates that local containment requirements and subsidized services for project developers have strengthened the national supply chain for wind turbines. It is also of high impact in the production of towers and the most moderate effect in the manufacture of wind turbines. The national content in the Brazilian wind sector is currently estimated at 80%.

Via Reve

 

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Brazil Announces Equal Pay For Women’s And Men’s National Teams

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Following Brazil’s exit from the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Brazilian forward and legend Marta Vieira da Silva delivered a passionate message to the next generation.

“This is what I ask of all Brazilian girls,” she said. “The future of women’s football is depending on you to survive. It’s wanting it more. It’s taking care of yourself more. It’s training more. It’s being ready to play 90 minutes and able to play 30 minutes more.”

 

By Alana Glass via Forbes

 

Read full article here

Brazil ranks high in UN e-government index

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Advances made over the last year and particularly during the Covid-19 outbreak positioned Brazil as one of the fast-movers in digital government globally, according to the latest United Nations E‑Government Survey.

Brazil is one of the 18 countries in the Americas that ranked in the “very high” group of the report’s E-Government Development Index (EGDI) group for the first time, along with Argentina, Chile and Costa Rica.

 

By Angelica Mari via ZD Net

 

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ISRO PREPARES TO LAUNCH BRAZIL’S AMAZONIA-1 SATELLITE ABOARD PSLV IN AUGUST THIS YEAR

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The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is gearing up to lift off Brazil’s Amazonia-1 satellite next month onboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)

As per a report in the Financial Express, Amazonia-1 will be the first satellite for Earth Observation that is designed, assembled and tested in Brazil.

 

Via Tech 2

 

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Brazil starts producing Swedish Gripen jets

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WASHINGTON — Brazil has officially begun manufacturing fighter jets with the start of production at a new facility that makes sections of the Saab Gripen, Swedish aerospace company Saab announced Tuesday.

Saab Aeronáutica Montagens, a new manufacturing plant located near Sao Paulo, has begun producing Gripen E/F aerostructures, including the tail cone and front fuselage for the single-seat Gripen E version of the jet. It will eventually also make the brakes, rear fuselage, wing box and front fuselage for the two-seater “F” model, Saab stated.

 

By Valerie Insinna via Defense News

 

Read full article here

Brazil Opens Drive-in to Help People Cope With COVID-19

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Brazil has converted a football (soccer) stadium into a drive-in movie theater, its latest effort to lift national morale as the country struggles with the coronavirus pandemic.

The Palmeiras football club’s converted stadium in Sao Paulo accommodates up to 300 cars.

Alessandro Tessari, a fan of the football team said, he could never imagine he would be watching a movie in the stadium.

 

Via VOA News

 

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Nebraska/Brazil partnership eyes expansion of preschool science instruction

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Lincoln, Neb. —Tucked away from the busy city streets of São Paulo, Brazil, young learners are exploring a colorful garden with spades, magnifying glasses and other tools. They gather around their preschool teacher who is holding a freshly dug worm in her hands. They observe the wriggling creature together. After the excited shrieks subside, the teacher begins to ask them questions.

Their curiosity leads to a conversation — an opportunity to learn about science.

 

By Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources University of Nebraska-Lincoln

 

Read full article here

Architecture in the Periphery: Teaching Women to Build Houses in Brazil

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The spirit of the women who participate in the movements fighting for housing in Brazil is as hard as lime and wood. As a majority in land occupations, they vigorously coordinate organizational and political practices of settlement and popular housing construction. It is no wonder that many of the occupations of the MST (Landless Rural Workers’ Movement) or the MTST (Homeless Workers’ Movement) carry the names of women such as Dandara, a quilombo leader from the colonial period.

 

By Cecília Garcia via Arch Daily

 

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Brazil Makes Inroads Towards Digital ID

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The Brazilian government has launched a new app that unites the social security card and driving license as part of its digital identification and citizen service delivery plan.

The launch follows a move towards making the social security number the main proof of ID for Brazilians: since last year, it is used to access government services. This includes the emergency aid scheme announced in April for financially vulnerable citizens.

 

By Angelica Mari via Forbes

 

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Brazil’s musicians offer ‘little seed of happiness’ via shutdown sessions

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The Brazilian guitarist Cainã Cavalcante was gearing up for tours of Cuba, Colombia and the United States when coronavirus struck.

Now, like thousands of musicians in the land of samba and bossa nova, he is in lockdown – trapped at home with six instruments, an empty gig schedule and a burning desire to resist the global health crisis with his strings.

 

By Tom Phillips via The Guardian

 

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In Brazil, a great-grandmother, 97, becomes the oldest coronavirus survivor

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RIO DE JANEIRO — When 97-year-old Brazilian Gina Dal Colleto was hospitalized on April 1 with coronavirus symptoms, few could have thought she would survive the deadly virus.

On Sunday, however, Dal Colleto was pushed in a wheelchair out of Sao Paulo’s Vila Nova Star hospital to applause from doctors and nurses, becoming the oldest known survivor of COVID-19 in Brazil, the Latin American country worst-hit by the outbreak.

 

Via NBC News

 

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Netflix Announces $1 Million Aid Fund for Brazilian Workers

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RIO DE JANEIRO —  Netflix announced Tuesday April 14, the creation of a 5 million reals ($1 million) fund to support local below-the-line production employees and free-lancers not able to work due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The aid will be distributed by the Brazilian Institute of Audiovisual Content (ICAB), an arm of leading industry organization Brazil Audiovisual Independent (BRAVI). It will help up to 5,000 workers with one part of the local monthly minimum wage of US$200. It targets personnel involved in production tasks, such as cinematography, sound, art design, makeup, scenography, and logistics.

 

By Marcelo Cajueiro via Variety

 

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Brazil’s Worst-Hit State Turns to Big Data as Quarantine Wavers

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Sao Paulo, the state at the epicenter of Brazil’s coronavirus cases, is using geo-referenced data provided by the nation’s main telecom firms to monitor the adherence to quarantine measures.

The government is now able to monitor areas where there’s greater movement and concentration of people so it can step in and reinforce the need for social distancing, state secretary for economic development Patricia Ellen said in a press conference Thursday. Firms providing data include Telefonica SA and Telecom Italia SpA’s Brazilian units, as well as Claro SA and Oi SA. The government doesn’t have access to individualized data to protect people’s privacy, she added.

 

By Vinicius Andrade via Bloomberg

 

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Why I Want to Wander Through Brazil’s Wild Outdoor Art Museum

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Homebound the past few weeks, what I miss is pretty straightforward: I want to see friends again, go to galleries, visit my favorite Mexican restaurant. But every so often I find myself lingering on more grandiose possibilities, topmost of which is a trip to Inhotim, a 250-acre sculpture park about an hour and a half’s drive from Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Full disclosure: I’m partially motivated by regret. As the Bloomberg Pursuits arts writer, I get to travel a lot for my job, and while far-flung art fairs and biennials can be eye-opening, I find that at these events I spend more time with the so-called art world than the art itself. That was one of the reasons I pitched a straightforward piece on Brazil’s art scene—no mention of commerce needed.

 

By James Tarmy via Bloomberg

 

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Brazil great whales estimated to be worth USD $82 billion in services provided

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In December 2019 the group of collaborating economists released a paper stating that the value of all great whales worldwide is approximately one trillion US dollars.

 

Via Oceanographic

 

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Brazil Turns to Local Industry to Build Ventilators as China Orders Fall Through

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BRASILIA – Brazil’s health minister said on Wednesday that the country’s attempts to purchase thousands of ventilators from China to fight a growing coronavirus epidemic had fallen through and the government is now looking to Brazilian companies to build the devices.

“Practically all our purchases of equipment in China are not being confirmed,” Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta said at a news conference.

 

Via Voa News

 

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Coronavirus: Brazil’s favela residents organise to stop the spread

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Residents are still running errands, and motorbikes are still weaving through traffic on the narrow, busy streets. Some shops have closed – but many are very much open, despite a state-wide quarantine. When people here live hand-to-mouth, how do you tell them to shut up shop?

Covid-19 is seen by many in favelas as a rich person’s disease brought in from abroad, but as the virus spreads, they worry that the poor will suffer the most.

 

By Katy Watson via BBC News

 

Read full article here

The Pursuit: Global Women for Change

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Our fellow Eduarda Zoghbi has created a platform for women empowerment that produces regular content in the form of podcasts.

“We strive to create a platform for dialogue among women from around the world. Our focus is on women change makers, their experiences and stories, and sharing it globally with our podcast.”

 

Click here to visit the website

‘People think it’s magic’: how one of Brazil’s poorest cities gets its best school results

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As you approach the city of Sobral in north-east Brazil, the road worsens. Huge pot holes slow traffic to a crawl. The heat is suffocating, even worse when there is no cloud cover.

Sobral is poor. Jobs are scarce, salaries meagre, gangs the only option for many. For children, it’s a tough start to life. Ana Farias, headteacher of an early-years school in a low-income neighbourhood controlled by a gang, knows this only too well. Some of her students wouldn’t eat if it were not for free school meals.

 

By Sarah Johnson via The Guardian

 

Read full article here

Coronavirus crisis threatens data protection regulations in Brazil

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The COVID-19 crisis will likely result in the postponement of the go-live date for Brazil’s general data protection regulations. According to industry observers, the pandemic is seen as a fair justification to delay the go-live date for the regulations, which are due to be enforced in August 2020.

A bill authored by congressman Carlos Bezerra presented in November 2019 had already proposed pushing the go-live date for the rules to August 15, 2022. In his proposal to delay the introduction of Brazil’s GDPR, Bezerra used the slowness in setting up the National Data Protection Authority (ANPD, in the Portuguese acronym), which will be responsible for editing the data protection and privacy regulations, as a key part of the argument.

 

By Angelica Mari via ZD Net

 

Read full article here

Tribute to Sheun Ming Ling

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On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce, Inc., we regretfully inform you of the passing, on March 19, 2020 at the age of 99, of Sheun Ming Ling, President Emeritus of the Board of Directors of Évora S.A. and Founder of Instituto Ling, a longtime and valued partner of the Chamber.

With no formal education and few resources, Mr. Ling migrated from China to Brazil in 1951.  Shortly thereafter, he set off on an entrepreneurial journey that jumpstarted Brazil’s soy industry, creating Évora S.A.  In 1995, Mr. Ling and his wife, Lydia Wong Ling, founded Instituto Ling, a philanthropic entity that has provided 772 students, many of whom are Person of the Year Fellows, with educational scholarships.

Mr. Ling is survived by Lydia, to whom he was married for 66 years, four children, and nine grandchildren.  More information on Sheun Ming Ling’s great life and career can be found here.

 

Lua Oliveira Launches Favela Library in Brazil

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RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Lua has a hungry look on her face as she holds her new book on Nelson Mandela, one of thousands the precocious 12-year-old has amassed for her new library in a poor Brazilian favela.

“I don’t read books. I devour them,” she says in Rio de Janeiro’s Tabajaras neighborhood, a shantytown perched in the hills overlooking the chic districts of Copacabana and Botafogo.

 

By Agence France-Presse via Rappler.com

 

Read full article here

Artificial Intelligence Makes its Mark in the Brazilian Judicial System

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Artificial intelligence (AI) programs are already making decisions in different judicial processes. In these cases, legal professionals check and then confirm the guidelines suggested by the software.

AI also already performs actions such as reading, interpreting, selecting, and drafting legal documents, changing the profile of activities in courts and law firms.

 

By Flávio Ferreira via Folha de S. Paulo

 

Read full article here

Complete Genome Sequence for Coronavirus in Brazil Published

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Only two days after Latin America’s first case of coronavirus was confirmed in São Paulo, the largest Brazilian city, researchers at Adolfo Lutz Institute (IAL), the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil and the University of Oxford in the UK have published the complete genome sequence for the virus, which they call severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

The report was published on February 28 on Virological.org, a forum for discussion and data sharing used by virologists, epidemiologists and public health specialists. This kind of information helps understand how the virus is spreading around the world, and is useful for the development of vaccines and diagnostic tests.

 

Via Technology Networks

 

Read full article here

UPDATE 1-Brazil oil production rises 20% in January to all-time high

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SAO PAULO, Feb 19 (Reuters) – Oil companies produced 3.17 million barrels per day (bpd) on average in Brazil in January, a volume 20.4% larger than seen in the same month a year earlier and an output record for the country, oil regulator ANP said on Wednesday.

Natural gas production increased 22% over January 2019 to 138.7 million cubic meters per day on average last month, also a record. The deepwater, pre-salt field known as Lula accounted for a third of all oil production in Brazil, reaching 1.05 million bpd of crude on average in January, ANP said.

 

By Marcelo Teixeira via Reuters

 

Read full article here

A vision in concrete: Oscar Niemeyer’s Brazil

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During a brief visit to Rio de Janeiro, taking in Sugar Loaf mountain, Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, and dutifully drinking cool caipirinhas, my heart was really elsewhere – 1,200km inland to Brasília in the central plateau to be precise. It wasn’t sand, samba and rainforests I was after, but clean modernist lines and reinforced concrete laid out on the Cerrado (the country’s vast tropical savannah).

 

By Chris Hall via The Guardian

 

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“Prêmios como o POY abrem as portas para as mulheres”, diz Luiza Helena

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Responsável pela inovação e liderança do Magazine Luiza, a empresária Luiza Helena Trajano, 68 anos, vem abrindo portas para as mulheres há muito tempo. Recentemente, foi a segunda brasileira escolhida para receber o prêmio “Person of the Year”, criado há 50 anos pela Câmara de Comércio Brasil-EUA.

Em entrevista à FORBES, Luiza comentou alguns fatores que, na sua opinião, foram importantes para que conseguisse chegar a tal posição e como a utiliza para ajudar outras mulheres que estão no mundo dos negócios.

 

By Daniel Veloso via Forbes Brasil

 

Read full article here

Special Brazil Webinar How to Fast-Track your Business in Brazil

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Two world leading experts in helping international companies open businesses and operate successfully in Brazil will be teaming up to give a fast-paced webinar about using the smartest strategies for success in Brazil.

The webinar will be led by Francisco Mendez with Globalization Partners and Bruno Drummond with Drummond Advisors.

Topics include:

  • Fastest way to hire a full-time employee
  • Employer of Record process explained
  • Speeding up receipt of your Federal Tax ID Number (CNPJ)
  • Dos and Don’ts of setting up your company in Brazil
  • Avoiding delays in your M&A agreement
  • Understanding Brazil Labor laws
  • Preparing Visa Applications
  • Transfer Pricing Calculations

Participants are encouraged to ask questions at any time during the webinar.
We look forward to a very lively dialogue about business in Brazil and hope you will join us.

Register Here

Brazil’s net metering policy leads to growth in solar distributed generation

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November 22 (Renewables Now) – Brazil’s growth in distributed generation from renewable resources—especially solar—has increased since it implemented net metering policies in 2012, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) says in an overview. As of mid-November 2019, owners have installed more than 135,000 renewable distributed generation systems in Brazil, totalling about 1.72 GW of capacity, according to the Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency (ANEEL).

 

By EIA via Renewables Now

 

Read full article here

Brazil’s prison island turned paradise

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Few can claim to have visited the white-sand beaches and lush mountain jungles of Brazil’s Fernando de Noronha archipelago, but that’s not for a lack of trying. Around 75% of these 21 scenic islands set 350km off Brazil’s north-east coast were declared a protected national marine park and sanctuary in 1988, and in order to promote sustainable development, only 420 visitors a day are allowed to enter.

But while a trip to these volcanic clusters is highly sought-after by tourists now, it wasn’t always so. Between the 18th and 20th Centuries, the main island was used as a prison for some of Brazil’s most dangerous criminals.

 

By Ana Terra Athayde via BBC Travel

 

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Brazil Banking Giant’s Share Sale Raises $1.4 Billion

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(Bloomberg) — Banco do Brasil SA, Latin America’s biggest lender by assets, and a government-managed fund raised 5.8 billion reais ($1.4 billion) by selling shares of the state-owned bank, another step in Brazil’s effort to shrink the size of the state.

Shares of the company rose to a three-week high after the deal, which priced 132.5 million shares at 44.05 reais apiece, according to a regulatory filing. A little over half of the shares were sold by a Brazilian workers’ investment fund known as FI-FGTS, managed by another state-controlled bank, Caixa Economica Federal. The rest was sold by Banco do Brasil itself, which held some of its own shares through its treasury desk.

By Vinícius Andrade, Felipe Marques, Rachel Gamarski and Cristiane Lucchesi via Yahoo Finance

Read full article here

Entendendo a Constituição Federal da República Federativa do Brasil

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No dia 4 de novembro acontecerá em São Paulo, o lançamento do livro “Entendendo a Constituição da República Federativa do Brasil” de Cooordenação e Coautoria de Felipe Neves.

Felipe é Fellow do nosso POY Fellowship Program e Presidente e Fundador do Projeto Constituição na Escola. O objetivo do Projeto, através das aulas sobre a Constituição Federal Brasileira, é expandir a noção cívica dos estudantes, ensinando-lhes sobre seus direitos e deveres constitucionais, para que tenham uma base educacional sólida para compreender a importância de ser um cidadão consciente.

Saiba mais aqui

Brazilian agribusiness should take your AE power vocation, says minister

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The Minister Tereza Cristina (Agriculture, Livestock and Supply) said on Thursday (10) that Brazil is already recognized as an agricultural powerhouse, but has room to continue growing in a sustainable manner. By participating in the Brazil Panel: Sustainable Agricultural Power, during the Investment Forum Brazil 2019 in Sao Paulo, the minister said Brazil wants to move beyond the current 7% share in world trade.

“We are one of the few countries in the world with the capacity to significantly expand the provision of sustainable food. To follow increasing domestic production and minimizing impacts on the environment, the Brazilian government and the private sector need to continue working together, “said the minister, noting that Brazil should effectively assume their global agri-environment power vocation.

 

Via DATAGRO

 

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Exclusive: Brazil-based ONEVC Closes On $38M Cross-Border Fund

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Congratulations to Bruno Yoshimura and the ONEVC team for this important achievement. Bruno is a fellow of our POY Fellowship Program and a member of our Young Professionals Committee. 

**

In recent years, Brazil’s startup scene has exploded as investor interest in Latin America as a whole has increased. And ONEVC, a cross-border fund dedicated to investing in U.S. and Latin American startups, is ideally poised to capitalize on that.

The firm, with offices in São Paulo and San Francisco, has closed its first fund, ONEVC FUND I LP, Crunchbase News has learned exclusively.

The firm has $30 million under management, along with $8 million to invest in “special opportunities” (more about those later). Since it was formed in November 2017, ONEVC has already seen two portfolio companies become unicorns and another (San Francisco-based HeyDoctor) exit.

By Mary Ann Azevedo via Crunchbase News

Read full article here

First Time to Brazil? Consider a Visit to Salvador.

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Thanks to the Brazilian government waiving the visa requirement for U.S. citizens – and those from Canada, Australia and Japan, too – in June 2019, planning a trip to Brazil has gotten easier. While Rio de Janeiro can first come to mind, perhaps followed by San Paulo, as a destination, there is another city within Brazil that offers much culture and cuisine, and sand and surf. It’s Salvador.

Within Brazil’s northern state of Bahia, Salvador is a coastal destination that is ushering in new developments while maintaining its past. A convention center to be named Antonio Carlos Magalhães is anticipated to open at the end of 2019. This spring, LATAM began offering a new direct flight from Miami to Salvador, departing on Sunday afternoons and returning to Miami early Monday mornings.

 

By Michelle Herrmann via Forbes

 

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Governador destaca potencial do Estado no Paraná Day em Nova York

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O governador Carlos Massa Ratinho Junior apresentou nesta quarta-feira (17) oportunidades que o Estado oferece a um grupo de executivos de corporações internacionais que mantêm investimentos globais. A apresentação foi na Câmara de Comércio Brasil-EUA, em Nova York, que recebeu a terceira edição do Paraná Day.

Durante a abertura do evento, na principal palestra do Paraná Day, Ratinho Junior falou de concessões na área de infraestrutura, principalmente de rodovias, ferrovias e aeroportos, e também de Parcerias Público-Privadas (PPPs) em setores como turismo, segurança e saúde. Além disso, ressaltou o ambiente propício para negócios que tornam o Paraná um Estado atrativo.

 

Via Agência de Notícias do Paraná

 

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Ethanol to be central issue in India-Brazil meeting – industry group

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SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazil and India are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding on production and trade of ethanol when leaders of the two countries meet in Brasilia later this year, an industry group said on Tuesday.

According to UDOP, a Brazilian association of sugar and ethanol producers, the suggestion to discuss a partnership on ethanol came from the Indian government, which has a target to gradually increase blending of ethanol to gasoline to up to 20%.

By Marcelo Teixeira via Yahoo Finance

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The Mysterious Ancient Underwater Roman Relics of Brazil

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In the southeast region of the country of Brazil lies Guanabara Bay, off the coast of the major metropolis of Rio de Janeiro. It is the second largest bay in Brazil, but other than that there is nothing particularly special about it other than perhaps the large amount of pollution here. However, lying approximately 15 miles offshore, buried down in 100 feet of water across an area around the size of three tennis courts is a rather strange oddity. Here scattered along the bottom are various relics from ancient Rome, far from where they have any business being, and which have remained a baffling historical anomaly and conundrum that remains unsolved.

 

By Brent Swancer via Mysterious Universe

 

Read full article here

The 2019 Person of the Year Gala Dinner Will Take Place as Scheduled – May 14th, 2019 at 6:30 P.M.

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 49th Person of the Year Awards Gala Dinner
 Tuesday, May 14, 2019
 New York Marriott Marquis
 Opening Reception: 6:30pm / Gala Dinner: 8:00pm
 New York City
Dear Sponsors and Guests,
The Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce hereby ratifies that the 2019 Person of the Year Gala will take place as scheduled, on May 14th at the Marriott Marquis in New York.
The Chamber will be celebrating its 50th year of promoting trade, investment and cultural ties between Brazil and the United States. During the Gala, the Chamber will award Instituto Brasil Solidário for their contributions to Social Responsibility and Neoway for their leadership in Digital Innovation.
Cordially,
Awards Committee
Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce, Inc.

Mark Mobius Bets on Brazil

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The veteran emerging-market investor Mark Mobius said he plans to add to his Brazil holdings, lauding the first few months of President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration even as other investors have shown skepticism.

Mobius, who left Franklin Templeton Investments in 2018 to set up Mobius Capital Partners, said the president’s performance has been “terrific” as he works to push through a pension overhaul that analysts see as key to revitalizing Brazil’s economy. He expects the bill to pass this year and predicted more money will flow into Brazil as the agenda takes hold.

By Vinicius Andrade via Bloomberg

Read full article here

 

 

 

Important Update – 2019 Person of the Year Award Gala Dinner

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Joint statement from the American Museum of Natural History and the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce:

“With mutual respect for our work and goals of our individual organizations, we have jointly agreed that the American Museum of Natural History is not the optimal location for the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce Gala Dinner. This traditional event will go forward at another location on the original date and time.”

Workers in Rio Find 30,000 Artifacts Dating Back to Brazil’s Empire

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RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – While working to renovate Rio de Janeiro’s zoo, workers found historical artifacts dating back to Brazil’s imperial past at the Quinta da Boa Vista park, in the northern part of the city.

 

Classified as an ‘archaeological treasure’ by Rio’s city government, the more than 30,000 items found are believed to be from the beginning of the 19th century to the first years of the 20th century.

 

By Lise Alves via The Rio Times

 

Read full article here

Increased Access Drives Brazil’s Visitor Growth

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Brazil’s tourism profile among Americans reached unparalleled heights in the earlier half of this decade when the South American nation hosted back-to-back international sports tournaments: the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

One million foreign tourists visited Brazil during the World Cup, according to officials at Embratur, the Brazil Tourist Board. More than 60 percent were visiting for the first time and U.S. and Canadian residents bought more than 200,000 match tickets, trailing only Brazilian purchases, said FIFA. Meanwhile, flights to Brazil increased by 289 percent between in the weeks prior to the 2016 Rio Olympics compared with the same period in 2015.

In the years since the country’s tourism officials have followed up on those high-profile events with a program of measures designed to ease American and Canadian travel to the country, even as the government struggled with economic and political unrest.

By Brian Major via Travel Pulse

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PRESIDENT MICHEL TEMER SIGNS LEGISLATION ROTA 2030, INCLUDING AMENDMENT PROPOSED BY CONGRESSMAN ARNALDO JARDIM

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Program provides incentives for automakers that prioritize the use of biofuels

Brazil´s President Michel Temer sanctioned this Monday, December 10, 2018, Law 13755, creating ROTA2030, a program that establishes incentives to increase efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in transportation, and gives a direction of future investments in research and new technologies for the automobile industry in Brazil. The measure was published at the Federal Official Gazette this Tuesday, December 11th.

ROTA 2030 was a program widely discussed by all the actors involved in the production and commercialization of cars and fuels in Brazil, with the participation of civil society representatives and a wide representation of Parliamentarians from the two houses of Congress.

ROTA 2030 is considered the Siamese brother of RENOVABIO, since it establishes incentives for the increase of efficiency in the technology used by vehicles, just as RenovaBio promotes the energetic-environmental efficiency in the production of biofuels.

One of the most important elements of ROTA 2030 was the approval of the Parliamentary Amendment authored by Deputy Arnaldo Jardim, approved in the form of Paragraph 4o. of Article 2 of the legislation, which reads as follows:

Paragraph 4. Hybrid vehicles equipped with an engine that alternately or simultaneously uses gasoline and ethanol (flexible fuel engine) shall have a reduction of at least three percentage points in the rate of IPI (industrial products tax) in relation to conventional vehicles of similar class and category, equipped with the same type of engine.

According to Congressman Arnaldo Jardim, the device is a way of recognizing the externalities of ethanol, which is a fuel that makes the difference, as it generates income, employment, is renewable and still fights greenhouse gases.

On Thursday, in a ceremony at the Presidential Palace, President Michel Temer, Ministers and members of the Parliament will celebrate the enactment of the Law, and Toyota will announce the installation of the first worldwide assembly line of hybrid vehicles with flex technology, capable of using ethanol fuel.

Below is the full text of Law 13755, published in the Official Gazette of December 11th, 2018.

DATAGRO, December 11, 2018.

LEI NO 13.755, DE 10 DE DEZEMBRO DE 2018

 

Read full article on portal.datagro.com

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