The Brazilian Guarantees Agency (ABGF) hosted the Project Finance Specialist Meeting from November 29 to 30 in Rio de Janeiro, organized by Berne Union, an international entity that congregates the export credit agencies. The event brought together specialists in export credit insurance operations for projects in the form of Project Finance.

At the opening, the CEO of ABGF, Mr. Guilherme Estrada, highlighted the partnership between the company and the entity. “ABGF and Berne Union have a fruitful and well-established relationship. It was always our intention to host an event of the entity in Brazil and I believe that this will be an important learning opportunity”.

Mr. Estrada commented to the participants from 16 countries on the favorable scenario in Brazil for the economic growth. “As you know, Brazil has experienced an economic crisis in recent years, but now the scenario is positive. GDP is expected to grow 1.4% this year and is expected to increase 2.5% next year. The confidence of businessmen and consumers are up and the trade balance also presents positive figures, with growth in exports of 8% over last year and estimated trade surplus of US$ 57 billion”.

On the theme of the meeting, Mr. Estrada evaluated that Brazil needs to further develop its competence in Project Finance and learn from international experience. “ABGF has already developed models of guarantees that may be practiced in the near future depending on demand. Basically, our guarantees could be used to cover credit risks and also non-manageable risks related to projects”.

The meeting’s agenda addressed the most relevant current issues in the light of Berne members’ experience and feedback. Among the topics that will be covered in the presentations and panels are statistics, case studies, risk classification and pricing models, restructuring of Project Finance, selection of consultants, policies, financing by capital markets, among others.