LT CFO SÃO PAULO
Marcela Drehmer, CFO, Braskem
Marcelo Martins, CFO & Investor Relations Officer, Cosan; Mark Ludwig, Contributing Editor, LT CFO Events, Latin Trade Group
Emmanuel Baltis, Vice President, Customer Distribution & Marketing, Zurich Latin America; Michael Raney, CEO, Zurich; Rodrigo Purchio, Corporate Strategy Manager, Volkswagen Brazil; Federico Bove, Executive Vice President, Datarisk Global
T
he Brazilian government has become more investment friendly as it launched a series of concessions in roads, railways, airports, and tentatively, ports. “Even though it was not a sea change, the situation is improving and there is now a good chance that investment will increase by 5 percent this year,” said David Beker, chief Brazil economist and fixed income strategist at Bank of America Merill Lynch, during the Latin Trade CFO Forum held in São Paulo, April 10. Beker forecast GDP growth to increase from 3 percent to 3.5 percent this year against a background of modest economic growth in the U.S., a soft landing in China and still some tail risks stemming from the European crisis. There
are domestic risks, too, he implied. Brazil already has an inflation issue, and its fiscal accounts have been deteriorating. “The balance between growth and inflation has deteriorated a lot,” he said although he ruled out a Turkey-like or Argentina-like scenario. In spite of repeated pledges to lift the investment rate to more than 20 percent of GDP, efforts have so far been frustrated and this key indicator fell to 18 percent of GDP. Marcelo Martins, CFO of Cosan, received the Latin Trade CFO of the year award after his company “increased its revenues by more 700 percent and its EBITDA by 500 percent within five years” while managing an intense acquisition and diversification process.
David Beker, Chief Brazil Economist & Fixed Income Strategist, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
LATIN TRADE MAY-JUNE 2013
Vincent Eavis, Practice Lead and Management Director, PayTech Commercial
Rogério Menezes, Finance Director, Akzo Nobel Ltda.; Marina Negrisoli, Treasury Manager, Fibria; Sergio Malacrida, Treasury General Manager, Fibria
Wagner Birochi, Treasury Manager, Syngenta; Wilson Ferreira, Exportation Director, MITSUI Alimentos
CONNECTING LATIN AMERICA’S CFO COMMUNITY
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Alexandre Dinkelmann, Executive VP of Strategy and Finance & Investor Relations Officer, TOTVS
Luis Emilio Fortou, Global Commercial Expansion Team, Latin America and Caribbean Region, Visa Inc.
PHOTOS: NEWTON MEDEIROS
INVESTMENT GEAR
Daniel Levy, VP of Finance and Management, TAM