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VISITS

New Dawn for Maranhão State by Carlos Brian Pheysey

The visiting mission was led by its Senator Roberto Rocha, who wants to draw
investments in capital and technology into the state’s infrastructure and economy

São Luís, the state capital The dunes and lagoons of Lençóis Maranhão state, in northern Brazil
Maranhenses
It is not often that one hears from the see thus an industrial district attached to
state of Maranhão, yet this is set to Central to his plans is ZEMA, the Export its rear area, already receiving input from
change sharply, in no small part by virtue Zone of Maranhão, a coastal jurisdiction China’s CCCC company. In this manner, the
of the drive by its Senator Roberto Rocha set up to foster the industrial processing port would become far better prepared to
to implement ambitious changes in that of primary goods before they are shipped make use of its proximity to the Panama
state along the northern coast of Brazil. abroad. The bane of Maranhão has been Canal and also to the North Atlantic mar-
its role as a coastal entrepôt for commod- kets.
Located at the point where the arid ities without ever experiencing value-add-
Northeast meets the lush forest close to ed activities that will boost revenue, jobs The port of Itaqui could do with an in-
the mouth of the Amazon river, Maranhão and more. The port of Itaqui, the second jection of expertise and capital from PSA,
is known for its uncanny beauty, its histor- deepest worldwide and located on the is- Singapore’s star operator of one of the
ical legacies, its miscegenation, but above land that houses the capital São Luís, will largest container ports worldwide and
all as the outlet for much of the produc-
tion in north-central Brazil of aluminium,
iron ore, soybeans, babaçu oil, rice, cassa-
va, cotton, cattle meat, eucalyptus wood,
natural gas, etc.

Senator Rocha came to Singapore in
May 2019 with a view to gleaning les-
sons from Singapore’s excellence in gov-
ernance and with the aim of drawing
investments in capital and technology
into his home state’s infrastructure and
economy, be it in logistics, manufacturing
or tourism facilities.

18 It’s Time for Brazil in Singapore 2019