Brazil

The development objectives of the Second Minas Gerais Development Partnership Project for Brazil are to: (i) to help the State of Minas Gerais improve the efficiency... Show More + and effectiveness of public resource use and allocation for economic and social development; (ii) to support the adoption of innovations in public management by the State; and (iii) to support the state in strengthening its results-based management system of monitoring and evaluation of results. The extension is necessary for the project to be fully and successfully completed. Additional time is needed to complete technical assistance activities of strategic importance to the borrower, related to the new institutional arrangements introduced for the management of the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte (MRBH), the state capital. The activities seek to support the development of master plans to guide urban and economic development in key areas of the metropolitan region. This initiative could have potential demonstration effects for other metropolitan areas in Brazil. The contract with the consulting company was signed in early December 2012.This will be the third extension of the project. Show Less -

This Third Minas Gerais Development Partnership Development Policy Loan (DPL) Project for Brazil is designed to assist the Government of Minas Gerais (GoMG) in its efforts... Show More + to promote fiscally, environmentally and socially inclusive sustainable development in the State of Minas Gerais. Although requested as a stand-alone DPL, the operation forms part of a long-term engagement with the State, which started in 2003. It is the fourth1 operation following the two-tranche Minas Gerais Partnership for Development DPL in the amount of US$170 million; the Second Minas Gerais Development Partnership Project, a US$976 million Specific Investment Loan with a multi-Sector Wide Approach (SWAp); and its Additional Financing of US$461 million. The operation is organized around four pillars: (i) budget and public sector management; (ii) social inclusion; (iii) environmental sustainability; and (iv) metropolitan governance. Each of these pillars includes substantial innovations in management and policy which build on the previous eight years of reforms, and the partnership with the World Bank. Show Less -

Brazil has made considerable progress toward macroeconomic stability since reform measures began to take hold in the early 1990s, and its economy has produced stronger... Show More + growth as a result an average of 2.5 percent annually over the past decade. This study provides a broad, cross-sectoral analysis of Brazil's capacity for producing knowledge and innovation. As such, it moves beyond the traditional recommendation that is, builds a stable macroeconomic environment and business-friendly physical and policy infrastructure and instead seeks a more comprehensive approach. The fact is that Brazil has delivered some important successes with efforts to develop innovation in agriculture, aerospace and energy. But like other middle-income nations, it is discovering that it must re-evaluate its education system, its information technology infrastructure, and its policy framework for encouraging innovation to ensure that its economy as a whole is growing fast enough to keep up with the global competition while also guaranteeing progress in its fight against poverty. This study was developed in close consultation with Brazilian government and civil society leaders, who are deeply engaged with the question of how to foster innovation and greater economic competitiveness. Indeed, the breadth of the support for this study is a testament to Brazil's pragmatism and perseverance in pursuing more robust growth. It is also a welcome reflection of its continually evolving relationship with the World Bank. Today, Brazil has emerged as a leader of efforts to build South-South cooperation. In this role, it can set an important example for other middle-income nations and act as a bridge between the northern and southern hemispheres. Show Less -