Chinese can not invest in Mato Grosso because of bureaucracy

Chinese can not invest in MT because of bureaucracy

Investors come to the country, but are barred by rules difficult to be fulfilled and complex environmental legislation

Source: Ascom Aprosoja
5/24/2013

The deficit is a logistical issue discussed in all regions covered by the entourage of the 8th tour by Aprosoja. On Thursday (23), the event was in Agua Boa, eastern region of Mato Grosso, the municipality which is between those who have a greater capacity for agricultural expansion through conversion of pastureland to cropland. There are at least 431,000 hectares that can be used for agriculture, according to the Mato Grosso Institute of Agricultural (IMEA).

But that which hinders this expansion is the lack of alternatives to ship out of the region the soybeans. Producers questioned during the tour the executive Lin Tan on why the Chinese do not invest in infrastructure in Mato Grosso since the state is the main customer of China with 70% of soybeans produced being sent to the country. "It is very difficult to invest in Brazil. We want to invest, but here there are many rules and regulations, actually more bureaucratic than China's, "said Lin.

For producer and delegate Aprosoja the municipality, Junior Garruti, the big problem in Brazil is that governments do not fulfill their duty. "The government does not decide what is priority. Failure is a cultural problem, our government does not have a voice. Many ministries are created and ends up messing up the other one and sends another stop working, "said Garruti.

Lin Tan also explained that many Chinese businessmen come to Mato Grosso with the intention of investing in silos, railways and ports, but the first difficulty is to find the right people to deal with these investments. "The Chinese are convinced that the government is taking care of these investments here because in China the government controls everything. And when they get here there are people in government. We understand that there are business opportunities here, but if we do not find the right person to make this happen, there is no business, "he clarified.

But when that first step is overcome, the second is the investors and the beneficiaries meet. The Chinese need to make sure that the project is a good investment and have some form of collateral. According to Lin Tan, then they find another big problem, environmental legislation. "Environmental regulations in Brazil and Mato Grosso are much stricter than in China. Here's indigenous reserve and several other licenses are required, there is a lot of bureaucracy, "he explained.

According to producer José Luiz Polizeli, one of the issues that attracted the most attention in his talk was the control that the Chinese government has on the country. "I never imagined that the Chinese government could be even more bureaucratic than ours, the feeling of having control over everything," he said. It's the first time he participates in the tour and the experience was odd. "I really enjoyed the lectures and they had a very good approach which forced us to imagine some situations and think about the future of the market. It's very different to have a representative here exposing the reality of each country. One thing is to read about it, but the other is able to take your questions there personally, "he added.

The tour is a realization of Aprosoja
 Aprosoja and the National Rural Education (Sennar-MT), sponsored by BASF, Bayer and Syngenta.