Jul 17, 2014

Today, the president of the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES), Mr. Luciano Coutinho, signed memoranda of understanding between the Bank and Chinese financial institutions. The ceremony was held at the presidential Planalto Palace in Brasília, during a meeting between President Dilma Rousseff and China’s president, Xi Jinping, who has been in the country since the beginning of the week, when he took part in the VI Brics Summit.

The memoranda signed with presidents of the China Development Bank (CDB), Hu Huaibang, and the Chinese Eximbank, Li Ruogi, establish mutual cooperation to foster programs and develop projects of common interest between the two countries in areas such as infrastructure, transport, power generation, telecommunications, research and development, and agriculture. 

The documents also allow the banks to finance, co-finance or create consortia to provide support to investment projects in Brazil and in other countries, which are in keeping with the interests and fulfill operational policies of both institutions and those within both countries.

BNDES-CDB – Among the cooperation instruments is the possibility of the CDB granting a line of credit to the BNDES to provide support to projects of common interest, in a similar fashion as is done with other multilateral development banks and governmental agencies. The memorandum is valid for three years.

BNDES-EXIM – The accord, valid for two years, focuses on cooperation in projects spanning across several areas, including energy, infrastructure and aeronautics, investment projects, and trade of high-aggregate value goods and services.

In financing for aviation, the BNDES may grant direct loans or structure operations in cooperation with China’s Eximbank to leverage financing for exports of Brazilian aircraft to China or other markets.

With the memoranda signed today, the BNDES seeks not only to diversify its sources of resources, but also help draw investments to the country, and support Brazilian companies by increasing financing for exports or supporting direct foreign investment.