Brazil wants to attract Chinese for the HSR bidding

The chairman of the Chamber of Deputies, Marco Maia (PT Party), received from his Chinese counterpart, Wu Bangguo, the promise that he will encourage the presence of Chinese companies in the bid for the high speed rail between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, scheduled for the end of the year.

The auction has been postponed three times due to lack of interested parties. After the last failure in July, the government decided to split the competition into two steps. In the first, the technology to be used will be decided, as well as the consortium responsible for the concession. The next step will define the company that will build the work.

Chairman of the National People’s Congress, Wu Bangguo is the second in the hierarchy of power in China, above the Prime Minister Wen Jiabao. According to Maia, the Chinese leader said that Chinese companies are mature enough to export the bullet train technology.

The question is whether they will be satisfied with the changes in the bidding model conducted by the Brazilian government. The Chinese refused to participate in the contest because they do not want to take the project concession for 30 years. They would like to build the project, sell equipment, receive payment and deliver the project to another company.

Maia was in China for the first meeting of the Regular Exchange Mechanism between the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil and the National People’s Congress of China. Created in 2006 during the visit of Wu Bangguo to Brasília, the instrument would only enter into force when the chairman of the Chamber of Deputies has visited China, which only happened now.

Issues. The two Parliaments have committed to identify and correct issues in their respective laws. Maia quoted the Brazilian rules on hiring foreign labor, which the Chinese would like to see more flexible.

The deputy heard complaints about this legislation during a visit to the factory of Huawei in Shanghai. The telecommunications equipment manufacturer complained of the difficulties of bringing foreign workers to Brazil. Huawei said it have interest to participate in 4G Internet projects in Brazil. The auction will be next week and six companies have submitted proposals: Vivo, Claro, TIM, Oi, Sky and Sunrise. Huawei wants to provide equipment for the system.