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Spotlight: Vicente Abate, President, ABIFER
Given his technical expertise and corporate experience, we are delighted to have Vicente Abate, President of the Brazilian Association of Railway Industry (Abifer), return to deliver a presentation at this year’s Heavy Haul Rail South America conference in São Paulo, Brazil on 17 October 2013.
Vicente graduated as a metallurgical engineer from Escola de Engenharia Maua and holds a Graduate Degree from the Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo and an MBA in Marketing from FGV-SP and Babson College, USA. He is Director of Corporate Relations at AmstedMaxion as well as being a Director of SIMEFRE, ABIFA, SAE Brazil and DEINFRA FIESP.
Last year, Vicente provided an overview of the upgrades needed to meet the growing demands for the rail sector. View his detailed presentation below
[slideshare id=23554266&doc=vicenteabate-130627003347-phpapp01]
Since then, the Government has announced plans to invest BRL$200bn to expand the country’s rail network via a new railway concession regime to open its rail markets to private sector investment. This will involve the tender of a total of 11,000 km of track construction and is due to start on 18 October with bidding for the construction of the Açailândia (MA) – Barcarena (PA) project.
Earlier this month, Transport Minister, César Borges and the Minister of Planning , Miriam Belchior announced the Government’s intention to restructure the Brazilian railroad industry by transforming the federal railroad construction company Valec into the newly formed railway administrator, Empresa Brasileira de Ferrovias (EBF). The change will provide for a new railway concession model which involves a single license holder for railway uses rights, which will be EBF. EBF will acquire Valec’s BRL$15bn capital and the new public company will be able to purchase and sell railway rights by closing contracts with logistics operators.
According to the Government, this change will reduce logistics costs and bureaucracy and will not delay the government’s railway concession tender schedule. Despite the Government’s good intentions, some industry figures are citing this change as a reason to call for a delay in the concession process. However, Vicente remains optimistic that any potential delays will provide “time for improvement” and valuable lessons for future tenders.
How does the creation of the EBF impact the current concession model?
Will it attract or detract investors?
To find out more, click here to book your place to hear Vicente join in the discussion on the concession process at the 2nd Heavy Haul Rail South America conference in São Paulo, Brazil on the 17 October 2013. Vicente will also provide an update on the trends and innovations in designing and delivering a flexible heavy haul network.
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