Partnership with the largest investment fund manager in the world aims to promote the long-term growth of the State, leveraging BlackRock's expertise in supporting governments in connecting with global capital markets.
Government of Paraná and BlackRock announce partnership to seek international investments.
The Government of Paraná and BlackRock, the world's largest investment fund manager, announced on Monday (1st) a strategic and unprecedented partnership aimed at boosting the State's economy. Vice-Governor Darci Piana, State Secretary of Finance Norberto Ortigara, and BlackRock's country manager in Brazil, Bruno Barino, signed a Letter of Intent to establish a collaboration focused on boosting Paraná's long-term growth potential and exploring ways to bring international investors closer to the State.
“Paraná attracted over R$ 300 billion in private investments in recent years, the result of work initiated by the entire team led by Governor Ratinho Junior, and is creating strategic mechanisms to keep its economy booming,” the vice-governor stated. “Collaboration with BlackRock will contribute to attracting new investors, generating jobs, and ensuring that Paraná continues to be a leader on the national and international stage.”
The State of Paraná and BlackRock will work together to evaluate ways to connect the State more directly to international capital. In the coming weeks, the government and the manager will begin technical discussions on the State's economic objectives and on international systems for accessing capital markets.
One of the manager's roles is to use its know-how to gather the best instruments to leverage the investment potential of local and international resources, seeking ways to access investors. “Together with the Government of Paraná, we have a unique opportunity to align the State's strengths and needs with innovative, world-class financial solutions, further advancing its long-term development goals,” Barino stated.
“This is the first project of its kind that we are undertaking in Latin America. We were very impressed with the level of economic growth and the development indices of the State, and we see a great possibility to connect our global experiences to accelerate the development of the State,” he emphasized.
On BlackRock's side, the Financial Markets Advisory (FMA) unit will assist in knowledge transfer and discussions on best international practices. BlackRock FMA has extensive experience advising government-sponsored institutions in economic development initiatives that expand access to capital markets.
“Transforming local economic potential into global investment opportunities requires structures that convey confidence to investors to allocate capital for the objectives of the public and multilateral sectors,” stated Steve Witthuhn, Executive Director and Head of the Americas at BlackRock FMA. “BlackRock FMA brings established experience in helping these institutions connect more effectively with global capital markets, and we are committed to sharing this knowledge to support Paraná's long-term ambitions.”
EYE ON THE FUTURE – Paraná is one of the fastest-growing states in Brazil, with a GDP of approximately R$ 740 billion (US$ 137 billion), and stands out in important sectors of the economy, such as the automotive industry, renewable energy production, agribusiness, logistics, and infrastructure.
The fiscal management of Paraná was recognized with a grade A+ in the Payment Capacity Evaluation (CAPAG) by the National Treasury Secretariat, in addition to receiving positive credit ratings from Fitch and Moody’s agencies. These differentiators create a solid foundation for growth and attraction of global capital.
“Ten years ago, Paraná was facing financial difficulties, even lacking gasoline for police vehicles. The state government did its homework with reforms, fiscal adjustment, increasing revenues and cutting expenses, and today the State has the best fiscal health in Brazil,” Ortigara stated. “We work to maintain these assets at all costs, and making good use of these resources will greatly benefit the economy of Paraná.”
The CEO of Invest Paraná, Eduardo Bekin, emphasized that BlackRock will contribute with its expertise to enhance investment attraction to the State. “They are able to connect with investors from all over the world and, in addition to their expertise in attracting resources, they can contribute to negotiations with various sectors,” he said.
“They can assist us, for example, in bringing static storage companies, port logistics, and railways, leveraging an area where we are already doing well, which is in the food industry,” he explained. “Another area we can improve is in data centers, another area where BlackRock has significant global participation.”
SOVEREIGN FUND – One of BlackRock's supports will be in assisting in the creation of the Strategic Fund of Paraná, a Sovereign Fund of the State aimed at long-term financial planning, considering the end of state tax benefits starting in 2028, due to the Tax Reform.
“We have the possibility to continue the fiscal war for three more years; after that, these types of benefits will cease. But we want to be prepared to continue encouraging our local companies or attract external investments,” Ortigara explained. “We have been taking measures for some time, and today we celebrate the strategic partnership with the largest financial asset manager in the world, which has expertise in technology and services. It is a partnership at no cost to the State, to think about long-term management.”
The fund will be created through a bill that will be submitted to the Legislative Assembly of Paraná, so that it can serve as a long-term investment tool, without the need to increase the tax burden on the population. Its structure will be based on three main pillars: Socioeconomic Development, Fiscal Sustainability, and Disaster Management.
One of its objectives is to continue the policies of incentives and attraction of new companies and investments to Paraná. The idea is to promote the continuous economic growth of the State, investing in productive chains, high-complexity services, innovation, and environmental sustainability, generating more jobs and income for the population. In addition, the fund will function as a liquidity cushion for the State, allowing for the maintenance of fiscal health, even in times of economic crisis or when there are restrictions in fiscal policy.
ABOUT BLACKROCK – Present in Brazil for 17 years, BlackRock has over US$ 12.5 trillion in assets under management globally. The manager supports institutions in connecting local priorities to global investment flows and has a mission to help more and more people achieve financial well-being.
As a fiduciary for investors and one of the main providers of financial technology in the world, it helps millions of people build savings that accompany them throughout life, making investments simpler and more accessible.
PRESENCES – Also present at the signing were the General Director of the Civil House, Maiquel Zimann; the General Director of the Finance Secretariat, Luiz Budal; the Director of Institutional and International Relations of Invest Paraná, Giancarlo Rocco; the Director of the State Treasury, Carin Deda; the Deputy Director of the State Treasury, João Carlos Marques; and the Head of the Department of Financial Administration of the State Treasury, Chaiana Lorenzi.