President Dilma Rousseff has launched an ambitious investment program in infrastructure, transport, logistics, and energy that will cost US$ 235 billion. The president and the entire government have been mobilized in the search for these investments, from domestic, foreign, public, and private sources. 

During the first two years of Rousseff's government,  the assumption was that public investment alone would maked GDP grow. When a concessions program for highways, railways, ports, and airports was launched, it suffered from heavy-handed state presence and failed to take into account the basic elements that motivated investors. 

It was also assumed that promoting a drop in the Selic interest rate and appreciation of the Brazilian currency would cause private investment to follow naturally. 

Neither assumptions proved correct, and now the administration has awakened to the realization that investment will be attracted only by realistic programs, terms, and conditions, notably a fair rate of return, a reduction of risk, and corresponding profits. 

Rousseff on 27 February chaired a session of the Council on Economic and Social Development (CDES), a consultative body that is celebrating its 10th anniversary. 

To attract investors to the government's infrastructure and logistics projects, she promised "clear legal stability, duly compensated investments, and long-term financing."

It is to the president's credit that the government has shifted gears and designed a variety of financial and other incentives to attract the much-needed capital out-lays. It is preparing a new package for railways and highways to remedy a R$500 billion (US$255 billion) shortfall in infrastructure and logistics. The new program will depend on investment from the private sector to the tune of 40 percent...