COUNTRY BRIEFING BRAZIL

Transcription

1 EUROPEAN COMMISSION EuropeAid Co-operation Office Latin America Centralised operations for Latin America Brussels, 2008 COUNTRY BRIEFING BRAZIL PROGRAMME REVIEW JANUARY 2008 Page 1 of 11

2 I-BRAZIL COUNTRY PROFILE Capital Population Surface Area Population Density Brasilia million (WDI 2004) 8.5 million sq km (WDI 2005) 21 people per sq km (WDI 2005) People (WDI 2007) Urban Population** % Population Growth rate % Life Expectancy at birth years Fertility rate..2.3 children per woman Illiteracy Rate in over 15 year olds (2005)** % Unemployment Rate (WDI 2005).. 9.4% Population below Poverty Line** % Economy Economic Sectors as a % of GDP in 2004 Primary % Secondary % Tertiary % GDP Growth (2005) % Trade and Finance* Currency Real (BRL) GNP per capita... US$ 2,720 Aid per capita (2003). US$ 2 Long-term debt....us$ 164 billion Total debt service % Gross Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as a % of GDP...2.1% ** References: Statistics taken from ECLAC 2006 (mainly the 2006 Statistical Yearbook for Latin America and the Caribbean) and the statistics from Economy and Trade and Finance are taken from the World Bank World Development Indicators (WDI) 2007, unless otherwise stated. Page 2 of 11

3 II- CONTEXT OF REGIONAL COOPERATION AIMS & OBJECTIVES How are the Centralised Programmes of Regional Cooperation structured and why are they relevant in the present context? The characteristics of regional cooperation (centralised co-operation programmes) can be summarised as follows: Strategy of Influence; a privileged tool to promote mutual interests; Interventions on priority areas of regional strategic importance or in response to shared concerns, such as trade and investment promotion, regional integration (economic as well as social and cultural), education and training, social cohesion, information society, governance and civil society, sustainable use of energy and the reduction of vulnerability (the last including social, environmental and economic dimensions); Existence of networks of partners in the two regions. All countries in these regions are eligible, including Cuba. The partners include the public sector, local actors (municipalities), economic operators (enterprises, chambers of commerce) and the academic world (universities, research and training centres); Financing through the economic co-operation budget line ( Economic, Political and Cultural Co-operation with Developing Countries of Latin America) of multi-annual and co-financed programmes which are then transferred to individual projects. Each programme and project is co-financed by the beneficiaries. The principal strengths of the regional co-operation, managed at central level and operated by local networks in the EU and LA are: Very strong sense of ownership of those actors who are directly involved; Visibility given to the political priorities of the EU/LAC strategic partnership as expressed during the Summits, which are translated into concrete actions; Specifically European added value, complementing the interstate partnership and strengthening the relations between the two regions; Exchanges of know-how and best practice between actors of both regions; Coverage of the entire Latin American region (plus Cuba) by specific networks; Multiplier effects of the networks; Economies of scale as compared to other bilateral co-operation actions; Strengthening of South-South co-operation; Stimulation of development by giving Latin American societies the chance to measure their achievements against similar partners in Europe; Permanent efforts to build fuller synergies between the various levels of the cooperation (bilateral, sub-regional and regional) which should supply themselves reciprocally. Page 3 of 11

4 III- EU LATIN AMERICA: REGIONAL COOPERATION PROGRAMMES AlBan - European Union Programme of High level Scholarships for Latin America The Alβan programme aims at furthering co-operation in the field of Higher Education between the EU and Latin America. The programme promotes increased mobility of Latin Americans into the European area of Higher Education. Such individuals may benefit from the excellence of such institutions, thus enhance their employability and so have better employment prospects once they return to their own countries. The Alβan programme covers the period and is now in its second phase: The total cost of the Alβan programme is m, with a European Community contribution of 88.5m, out of which 75m will be devoted to scholarships. This represents an average of 3,900 scholarships, of 12 months each and 1,500 per month each until The annual Calls for Scholarships ended with the 5th Call of The Programme awarded a total of grants to nationals of the 18 Latin American participating countries. ALFA - Latin America Academic Training The ALFA programme began in 1994 and sought to reinforce co-operation in the field of Higher Education. The programme co-finances projects aimed at improving the capacity of individuals and institutions (universities and other relevant organisations). The first phase, ALFA I, with an EC contribution of 31m, ran until 1999 and the second phase, ALFA II, ( ) with a total of 10 selection rounds represented an EC contribution of 54.6m distributed to the 225 approved projects (average of 72 % of the total project s costs) held by 770 distinct institutions. AL-INVEST enhancing commerce between SMEs The AL-INVEST programme involves the promotion of international long-term co-operation between SMEs in both the EU and Latin America. It is made up of two networks of organisations called Coopecos in Europe and Eurocentros in Latin America. These networks constitute the foundation of the programme and implement its activities. The EC launched the programme in 1993 (EC contribution 11m) and it is now ending its Phase III ( , 46m). In addition to the traditional tool of sectorial meetings to stimulate direct contact between the SMEs, in the latest phase, new capacity and institution building activities have also been incorporated, such as the Business Development facility, LA and EU Business Weeks and so on. In total, the participants from Latin America now number 75 Eurocentros. The guidelines for the call for proposal for Al-Invest IV will be published at the end of January/February Alliance for Information aims at reducing the digital divide between Europe and Latin America, integrating Latin America into a Global Information Society and creating long-term partnerships between the two regions. The programme was adopted by the EC on 6 December, It has a total budget of 77.5m of which 63.5m (approx 82%) is financed by the European Commission. The activities of the programme have been organised around three areas of intervention: dialogues, networks and demonstration projects. Within these 3 areas, 5 horizontal actions (in which all countries are involved and issues are addressed as a region) and 19 demonstration projects (individual participation in four areas e-education, e-inclusion, e-governance and e-health) are being developed. URB-AL - Urban Policy Coordination URB-AL is a decentralised co-operation programme directed at local communities of the EU and Latin America as well as other actors involved in the urban sector. It aims to disseminate and apply "Best Practices" in the area of urban policy as well as to facilitate research into contemporary issues. The programme activities are proposed, implemented and managed by the participants themselves. URB-AL currently represents more than 800 different local authorities and 2000 cases of participation (a single local authority can take part in several of its activities). The first phase from had a budget of 14m. URB-AL's second phase ( ) had a budget of 50m with activities expected to finish by the end of With an EU contribution of 50m, the current Programme will be followed by a third phase which aims to capitalise on the experiences and best practices already acquired in the projects to date. Page 4 of 11

5 IV- EU LATIN AMERICA: NEW AREAS OF COOPERATION EUROsociAL Regional Programme for Social Cohesion The general objective of EUROsociAL is to increase the level of social cohesion in Latin American societies. It focuses primarily on education, health, administration of justice, fiscal policy and employment. The programme promotes the exchange of experiences concerning the above-mentioned policies between public administrations of the EU and Latin America. The programme specifically aims to establish the conditions whereby these exchanges can generate social cohesion. EUROsociAL will last for a period of 4 years ( ). The European Commission s contribution to the programme is 30m. More information can be found by contacting the Programme Coordinator; Vittorio.Tonutti@ec.europa.eu or on the EUROSOCIAL website: OBREAL - Observatory of the Relations between Europe and Latin America OBREAL is a programme consisting of a network of 23 universities from Latin America and Europe, led by the University of Barcelona, whose aim is to promote reflection on the relationship between the EU and Latin America. It focuses on the common challenges being faced by both regions and how these challenges can be effectively overcome. The activities of OBREAL concern bi-regional association and common interests, keeping in mind the expectations of each region. In addition OBREAL advocates the dissemination of information related to the relationship between the EU and Latin America and each region's strategic vision. The European Commission s contribution to the activities of OBREAL is 1.35 m and the programme will run for 3 years ( ). More information can be found on the OBREAL website: or by contacting the Programme Coordinator; Vittorio.Tonutti@ec.europa.eu. Page 5 of 11

6 V- BRAZIL S PARTICIPATION IN THE PROGRAMMES OF REGIONAL COOPERATION Brazil s participation in Alβan - European Union Programme of High level Scholarships for Latin America In 2003/2004, the first Alβan call for candidates took place, and 251 scholarships were awarded. On average, they were for a period of two years, the average EC contribution being 26,700 per scholarship, with a total EC contribution of 6.7m. Out of 251 selected candidates, 63 (approx. 25%) were Brazilian and their main areas of study were Engineering and Technology, Business Studies and Management Sciences. At the second Alβan call (2004/2005), 779 scholarships were awarded, again for an average of two years, with an average EC contribution of 26,000 per scholarship amounting to a total of 20.22m. Of the 779 selected, 214 are Brazilian, who study mainly Engineering and Technology, and Natural and Social Sciences. So Brazilian scholarships now represent approx. 27%, a slight increase on the first call. At the third Alβan call (2005/2006), 553 scholarships were awarded, again for an average of two years, with an average EC contribution of 26,800 per scholarship amounting to a total of 14.86m. Of the 553 selected, 161 (approx. 29%) are Brazilian. This shows again an increase in the percentage of Brazilian students who benefit from the programme. At the fourth AlBan Call (2006/2007), of the total 930 scholarships awarded, 331 are Brazilians. At the fith AlBan Call ( ), 806 scholarships were awarded, 304 (approx. 38%) are Brazilian and their main areas of study were Social Sciences and Business Studies and Management Sciences. As indicated in the table below, the AlBan scholarships awarded to Brazilians in the course of the programme represent 32 %. Scholarships awarded to Brazilian nationals by type of course Year Master PhD Specialization Total Total Brazil TOTAL AlBan all LA countries Main Alβan Events in Brazil in 2008 At the moment the programme does not foresee any events in Brazil for this year. Page 6 of 11

7 More information is available on the Alβan website: Alternatively contact the Programme Coordinator, Mr Antonio Crespo: Brazil s participation in ALFA II - Latin America Academic Training 68 eligible Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) from Brazil participate in 136 of the 225 approved projects of ALFA II in the context of the 10 selection rounds (involvement in over 60% of the projects). In total, HEIs from Brazil co-ordinate 12 of the 136 above-mentioned approved projects with 5 joint co-ordinations: Austria-Brazil (twice), Belgium-Brazil, Spain-Brazil and Brazil-France. The main fields of study of the 136 projects in which Brazilian HEIs are involved can be seen in the following table: Architecture, Urban and Territorial Planning 4 Medical Sciences 5 Environmental Studies 11 Education 26 Social and Economic Sciences 26 Engineering and Technologies 50 Communication, Information Sciences 2 Law 3 Mathematics, Informatics 3 Natural Sciences 4 Other areas of study 2 The EC financial contribution to the activities carried out by the 136 projects in which Brazil participates is 38.2m, which represents on average 73 % of the total cost of each project. The average EC contribution per project is approximately 280, Main ALFA Events in Brazil in 2008 July, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, 3rd Meeting of MIRROR: Desarrollo de un modelo de referencia para intercomparación y reconocimiento de carreras de ingeniería (ref: II-0510-A); Universidade Estadual de Campinas, 2 nd meeting of SUPPORT: Sustainable Use of Photosynthesis Products & Optimum Resource Transformation (ref: II-0545-FA-FCD-FI) More information is available on the ALFA website: Alternatively contact the Programme Coordinator; Mr Antonio Crespo: Europeaid-infoalfa@ec.europa.eu Page 7 of 11

8 Brazil s Participation in AL-INVEST - enhancing trade between SMEs The 19 Eurocentros from Brazil are mainly located in some of the 27 Federations of Industry in the States and Federal District 1, which belong to the CNI (the National Confederation of Brazilian Industry), the main representative body of the industrial sector in Brazil. They are; CIC (Centro para Inovacao e Competividade) CITPAR (Centro de Integração de Tecnologia do Paraná) CODEVASF (Companhiade Desenvolvimento dos Vales do São Fracnciso e do Parnaíba) FIEC (Federação das Indústrias do Estado do Ceará) FIEG (Federaçao das Indústrias do Estado de Goiás) FIEMG (Federation of Industries of the State of Minas Gerais) FIEPE (Federation of Industrial Assosiations of Pernambuco) FIERGS (Federation of Industries of the State of Rio Grande do Sul) FIERN (Federação das indústiras do Estado do Rio Grande do Norte) FIESC (Federation of Industries of the State of Santa Catarina) FIESP (Federação e o Centro das Indústrias do Estado de São Paulo) FIRJAN (Federation of Industries of the State of Rio de Janeiro) IEL (Instituto Euvaldo Lodi) INDI (Instituto de Desenvolvimento Industrial de Minas Gerais) PROMO Bahía UNISINOS (Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos) FIEPA Industry Federation of the State of Pará FIEB Federation of Industries of The State of Bahia IEL-ES / CIN-ES (Instituto Euvaldo Lodi do Espírito Santo / Centro Internacional de Negócios do Espírito Santo ) Of the 604 (out of 1017) projects where the principal operator of a project has been Latin-American, Brazilian Eurocentros have led 84 of them (approx. 14%). Brazilian SMEs have also collaborated in 861 activities organised by AL-INVEST to date, involving 9,364 companies. The value of the contracts signed between European and Brazilian enterprises amounts to 44,070,787 and covers a wide range of sectors like agricultural products such as tobacco, coffee, fodder for animals as well as engineering, electrical and mechanical items (agro-industry). AL-INVEST Events in Brazil and with Brazilian participation in the first half of 2008 Type of Project: A = institutional building activities: ACO, IFU, CAP B = company activity - training: CAPYME C = company activity business meetings: SEU/SLA, ES, FDN, CEP # Start Date Project Type City/Contact Country Sector Foreseen Participants C Frankfurt GERMANY Textiles, textile articles C Vicenza ITALY Jewellery, gold and silverwork C ESSEN GERMANY Agro-industry C Colonia GERMANY Agro-industry C Nuremberg GERMANY Agro-industry C MADRID SPAIN Energy C Madrid SPAIN Medical technology 1 Paraná, São Paulo, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, Minais Jerais, Belo Horizonte, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Brasilia, Goiás, Ceará, Bahía and Pará Page 8 of 11

9 More information can be found on the AL-INVEST website; Alternatively contact the Programme Coordinator; Brazil s Participation - Alliance for Information Society Horizontal Actions: Like all countries of Latin America, two Brazilian institutions are playing a key role both in the Networks of Researchers, the RNP Rede Nacional de Ensino e Pesquisa and in the Network of Regulators ANATEL Agencia Nacional de Telecomunicações. Demonstration Projects: Brazil is a key partner in programme. There are currently 24 Brazilian partners participating in the implementation of 9 of the 19 demonstration projects (47% of projects). Although none of their project co-ordinators is Brazilian, there are as many as 8 Brazilian Partners in one single project - the Health Care Network. The 9@LIS demonstration projects currently on-going in Brazil and their members are: PROJECT SECTOR DEMONSTRATION PROJECT NAME NAME OF BRAZILIAN MEMBER e-education and Cultural Diversity ELANE Universidade Estadual de Campinas CIBERNARIUM Ayuntamiento de Porto Alegre e-governance egoia Ayuntamiento de São Paulo Governo do Estado de São Paulo / Government and Strategic Management Secretary Centro de Pesquisas Renato Archer - CenPRA ABEP - Brazilian Association of State Data-processing Companies EMPLENET IBAM - Instituto Brasilerio De Administraçao Municipal e-health HEALTHCARE NETWORK T@LEMED HEALTH FOR ALL Prefeitura de São Luis Escola Sindical 7 de Outubro Hospital das Clinicas da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais Prefeitura Municipal de Belo Horizonte Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais NESCON - Núcleo de Estudos em saúde coletiva Prefeitura de Recife Prefeitura do Porto Alegre Prefeitura de Aracaju Santa Casa Complexo Hospitalar Messina Informática e Comércio Ltda, CGC Fundação de Apoio ao Hospital Universitário, Cassiano António de Moraes Municipio de Potosí - Hospital Daniel Bracamonte e-inclusion JIQ CECIP - Centro de Criaçao de Imagem Popular LINK ALL STAR One Federação de Indústrias de Santa Catarina Events in Brazil in 2008 Page 9 of 11

10 No events foreseen. More information is available on website: Alternatively contact the Programme Coordinator; Brazil s participation in URB-AL - Urban Policy Coordination The URB-AL programme consists of thirteen thematic networks co-ordinated by a single local authority. Of the six cases where the thematic networks are coordinated by Latin American local authorities, of which Brazil leads 2: Prefeitura de Porto Alegre - Network 9 Local Finance and Participative Budget and Prefeitura de São Paulo - Network 10 The Fight against Urban Poverty. All those local actors who wish to co-operate on a given theme participate in the corresponding network, which provides a focal point of information and a forum for discussion. Joint projects are then designed and implemented within the networks. To date 188 joint projects have been selected, of which 92 have the involvement of a Brazilian local authority (49% of the projects). 11 external Brazilian members also participate in the joint projects. Of the 298 Latin American local authorities involved in joint projects, there are 51 different local authorities from Brazil (17% of the total). There are 14 Brazilian joint project coordinators, in 24 projects; Belo Horizonte (3 projects) Caxias do Sul prefeitura (2 projects 1 B Project) Diadema (2 projects) Florianópolis Guarulhos (3 projects) Jacareí Piracicaba No events foreseen in Porto Alegre (2 Projects) Recife Rio Claro Rio Grande da Serra Santo André São Paulo (4 projects 1 B project) São Bernardo do Campo More information about this programme can be found on the URB-AL website; Alternatively contact the Programme Coordinator; Vittorio.Tonutti@ec.europa.eu Brazil s participation in EUROsociAL Social Cohesion Programme The general objective of the EUROsociAL programme is to contribute to increase the degree of social cohesion of the Latin American countries while acting on the public policies of education, of health, of the administration of justice, taxation and employment, considered to be the main social cohesion vectors. This five areas are co-ordinated by four different consortia and the International labour Office. Brazil participates in 4 of the 4 consortia through the presence of: Secretaria de Reforma do Judiciário (Justice sector) Escola Nacional de Saude Pública Sergio Arauca (Health sector) Ministerio de Educación (Education sector) Secretaria da Receita Federal (Taxation sector) Page 10 of 11

11 Main EUROsociAL Events in Brazil in 2008 Sector Activity Date Education Justice Calidad educativa en contexto rural: Organización Pedagógica plurigrado Reunión del Comité Permanente de la Red Latinoamericana de Educación en prisiones Visita de identificación: Plan de Transparencia Judicial: Estadísticas Judiciales Asistencia técnica: Lucha contra la corrupción Reuniones de trabajo: Derechos humanos de los presos End September October December October November September Visita conocimiento: Creación de la Jurisdicción de pequeñas causas October Taxation Asistencia técnica sobre procedimientos de recaudación October Health Taller: Gobernanza de Hospitales Públicos: hacia un modelo de gestión orientado a la cohesión social Taller: Las tecnologías de información y comunicación aplicadas a la atención primaria de Salud en zonas remotas, aisladas y/o marginadas September September More information about this programme can be found on the EUROsociAL website; Alternatively contact the Programme Coordinator; Vittorio.Tonutti@ec.europa.eu. Main upcoming OBREAL Events foreseen in 2008 No events foreseen. More information can be found on the OBREAL website: or by contacting the Programme Coordinator; Vittorio.Tonutti@ec.europa.eu. Page 11 of 11