Boosting Brazil: Infrastructure challenges ahead of major sporting events.

Construction activity in Brazil will be boosted by a major overhaul of the country's infrastructure in preparation for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics. Becca Wilkins reports.

Brazil is facing a huge infrastructure regeneration challenge ahead of hosting the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games.

The country's airports, roads and railways as well as the sporting arenas themselves will either be upgraded or re-developed making Brazil the hot spot for future construction activity in Latin America.

Between US$ 16 billion and US$ 48 billion of investment is needed to improve Brazil's infrastructure to prepare for the 2014 World Cup according to a report by UK Trade and Investment (UKTI).

Meanwhile, it is expected that around US$ 15 billion will be invested in Rio ahead of the 2016 Olympic Games.

In the report, It's all to play for, infrastructure opportunities in Brazil: FIFA World Cup 2014, UKTI highlights the Government's existing accelerated growth plan (PAC), aimed at stimulating infrastructure development and boosting economic expansion.

The programme will allocate around US$ 332 billion between 2007 and 2010 and an additional US$ 200 billion post-2010. By the end of this year the Government is expected to define a ‘PAC da Copa', which will outline government funded infrastructure projects to support the delivery of the World Cup 2014.

Airports

A key focus for Brazil as it prepares to accommodate the two huge sporting events is the modernisation and extension of its airports.

Infraero, the Government agency which operates the country's airports is investing around US$ 2.3 billion over the next four years to expand and modernise the terminals in readiness for 2014.

São Paulo's Congonhas airport has already been renovated as part of Infraero's programme and around US$ 1.6 billion is expected to be invested in building a new terminal and runway at Campinas airport, also in São Paulo.

Another major project is in Natal in the far North East of Brazil, which will be built and operated as a private-public partnership (PPP).

Rachel Dias Azevedo, infrastructure and sports sector manager for UKTI Brazil told iC, "The main thing in terms of investment and budget as well as in terms of importance and impact of the World Cup (and afterwards the Olympics) is going to be airports.

"Airports are the most expensive projects and the most problematic because they are really old and really small and people in Brazil haven't historically travelled by air so it's been a new phenomenon in the last 10 years and it will just keep growing," she said.

Faith Quigley, Brazil specialist for UKTI, said long distances between the 12 World Cup host cities present huge transport challenges, not least for airport infrastructure.

"Air travel will be the main transport method for most of the World Cup fans in 2014. The number of passengers using the air network is expected to double during the month of the World Cup from about 4 million to about 8 million but demand for air travel in general is increasing in Brazil at a rate of around +5% a year so any investment is beneficial in the long term development of Brazil as well."

Infraero does not have the resources required to maintain and regenerate the airports if current growth levels are sustained. Therefore, the Government is looking at alternative models to attract private investment, including privatisation, concessions and public-private partnerships PPPs.

Urban transport

Ms Quigley said one of the key challenges for Brazil ahead of the World Cup and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games is to improve the country's urban transport systems, which as well as airports includes railways, ports and roads.

She added the Government's ‘PAC da Copa' will address this issue and although funding has not yet been agreed proposals suggest more than US$ 16 billion could be invested in this area during the next few years.

The Government has committed to improve the rail network via the PAC Programme which has allocated around US$ 4.1 billion mainly to the freight sector until 2010. Meanwhile, the Rio to São Paulo high speed rail link alone will require US$ 18 billion of capital investment. Cash is also being injected into São Paulo's metro system with three lines currently under construction and another six in development including a project to construct an express link to the international airport. Currently none of the major airports in Brazil have rail links to the city centres that they serve.

New metros are also in the planning stages in Porte Allegre and Belo Horizonte and other systems such as Trans and light rail, which are fairly new to Brazil, are becoming more popular, Ms Quigley said.

Stadiums

According to Ms Quigley the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) said that none of the stadiums in Brazil would be suitable to stage 2014 World Cup matches in their current state.

Stadiums will be located in 12 host cities including Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Cuiabá, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Manaus, Natal, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and São Paulo.

"Three new stadia are going to be built and most of the others will undergo major structural work, most needing new or extended roofs, improved media and executive facilities and larger parking areas," she added.

About US$ 2.4 billion is expected to be spent renovating and constructing the new stadiums for the World Cup but the government has said that rather than spend any of its funds on this they will prioritise the infrastructure projects which will benefit the country in the long term.

"So it's likely the financing of the stadia projects will mostly be PPPs between the state government and private investors, although some of the stadia are privately owned," Ms Quigley said.

Meanwhile, Ms Dias Azevedo said, "I think in terms of infrastructure in general the stadia is what everyone looks at because that's what football is about, but it will only take about 15% of the total investment."

Olympic links

Many of the stadiums and associated infrastructure built for the World Cup will of course benefit the 2016 Olympic Games.

The Maracanã stadium in Rio will undergo a major refurbishment for the World Cup, costing around US$ 252 million but it will also stage the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Meanwhile, around US$ 3.4 billion will be invested in the Rio's transport network - a rapid bus system will be built around the city as well as a new metro line which will link the city centre to Barra, where the Olympic and Paralympic Village will be located.

The Olympic training centre will incorporate two existing venues which were built for the 2007 Pan American games, also held in Brazil, as well as a number of new facilities for the 2016 Games.

The existing João Havelange stadium, the Olympic athletics venue, will also be renovated and its capacity increased from 45000 to 60000. Meanwhile, the Deodoro region to the north of the city will be regenerated and will become home to the new ‘X Park, a sports complex that will combine various Olympic disciplines with more modern ‘extreme' sports and this is hoped to be part of the legacy of the Games.

"In terms of sport and infrastructure Brazil really is the place to be for the next 10 years," Ms Quigley said.