Niterói City Hall Celebrates Alliance to Attract Investors in Pre-Salt

Port Infrastructure in Niterói Will Be One of the Highlights in the City’s Prospecting for Potential Investors

The incentive agency NitNegócios signed an agreement with the city hall of Niterói last week to attract companies to the city and revive the naval sector. Given that the investment expectations are high, after consortia led by foreign companies acquired six of the 13 pre-salt areas auctioned by the federal government last year.

The agency will have one year to map out the types of businesses in the municipality, with the aim of developing strategies that will be presented to companies in the sector at national and international fairs and events. To make this possible, NitNegócios will receive a subsidy of R$ 1.9 million from the city hall of Niterói.

According to Giovanna Victer, the city’s Secretary of Finance, the agreement has broader objectives than merely promoting the city to sectors that are business drivers:

“The main focus will be on the oil and gas sector, but we have begun to conduct an in-depth study to justify these investments based on the returns they generate for the city in terms of employment and investment in the areas of oil and gas; technology and entrepreneurship; civil construction for social housing, through public-private partnership (PPP) models; pharmaceuticals, through an agreement with the Vital Brazil Institute, which will start producing serums; and hospitality, which involves the areas of tourism, sports, leisure, and entertainment”, stated Giovanna.

The city hall of Niterói collected R$ 1.33 billion in royalties and special participations from oil exploration, making these resources account for 41.8% of the municipality’s total revenue.

The revenue from royalties is expected to last for another six to eight years, according to Giovanna. She also informs that the strategies will also aim to attract revenues from other businesses.

“In addition to dredging (the São Lourenço Channel, where the city hall announced it will invest R$ 200 million to increase the depth of the draft and allow access for large vessels to the shipyards along Contorno Avenue in Barreto), we need to bring together a series of factors to promote the naval sector. We have to shake off the stigma that the sector is outdated, showing that it is well organized. We will turn to the executives of major oil companies and show that Niterói has the structure for vessel repairs, flexible pipe production, demonstrating that they can establish themselves here, as we have good urban infrastructure and renowned educational institutions. The city hall won’t invest directly but aims to coordinate these agents and wants to take on this role”, adds Giovanna.

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