Brazil’s São Paulo inaugurates state government business office in New York

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Recently chosen as the PSDB candidate for Brazil’s presidency in 2022, São Paulo Governor João Doria disembarks on Wednesday (1/12) in the United States with an entourage of more than 20 business people to inaugurate the São Paulo state government’s business promotion office in New York City.

The event, which had been planned since the beginning of the year, took on a new tone after the results of the PSDB primary. Besides bridging the gap between São Paulo companies and the North American market, Doria will take advantage of the trip to put himself forward as a candidate and to send signs to the Brazilian financial market.

For the moment, the fact that presidential pre-candidate Sergio Moro has indicated that he will have the former president of the Central Bank Affonso Celso Pastore as his main economic advisor in his campaign, weighs against Doria.

President of the Central Bank between 1983 and 1985, Pastore is a name that most appeals to the financial market at the moment. He is admired for having played an influential role in negotiating with creditor bankers and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to ease the Brazilian recession.

On the other hand, accompanying the governor in his international agenda is state Finance Secretary Henrique Meirelles. A former banker and former Minister of Finance in Michel Temer’s government, Meirelles will coordinate Doria’s government plan in the economic area.

The projection of GDP growth in the state is estimated at 7.1% by InvestSP, while the national expectation is 4.6%; this counts in favor of the São Paulo government with the market.

In New York, the governor will meet with the mayor-elect of New York, Eric Adams, and with former mayor Michael Bloomberg, and executives from Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, and Banco Itaú.

Executives from organizations such as Cacau Show, Agrimpex, Fazenda Bahia, Sinditêxtil-SP, Itaipu, Instituto Butantan, and Sabesp are also taking part in the trip.

Internationalization

The promotional office, to be officially opened on Thursday (12/2), aims to strengthen commercial relations between Brazilian and international companies based in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

In charge of the new unit is lawyer and economic law specialist, Maurício Abadi. Before taking on the new position, Abadi was a vice president at Morgan Stanley and executive vice president at Banco Safra.

“The base in the world’s largest financial center will work to attract more investments to the state and support the internationalization of São Paulo companies,” says a statement delivered to the businessmen participating in the mission.

EXPANSION

This is the fourth government representation focused on business in foreign territory. In July this year, the governor opened an office in Munich, Germany. There is also a unit in Dubai, in the Arab Emirates, and another in Shanghai, in China.

The unit in China was primarily responsible for conducting part of the negotiations between the São Paulo state-owned Butantan Institute and chinese drug manufacturer Sinovac that enabled the partnership in the production of Coronavac, the first Covid-19 vaccine applied in Brazil.

The offices are under the command of the InvesteSP agency, linked to the state government, but also with resources from associated companies.

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