Reforming Brazilian Infrastructure Procurement: Looking at Practical Solutions

The recent Lava Jato investigations have revealed the serious challenge that corruption poses to the efficient delivery of infrastructure and other public services in Brazil and throughout Latin America. As multiple studies have shown, corruption is an obstacle to sustained economic development and democratic institutions alike.  Brazilian prosecutors and courts can continue to prosecute past wrongdoers, but there is a serious need for new procurement policies to prevent such abuses going forward. The Lava Jato investigation is a consequence, in part, of a weak and opaque public procurement process that allowed contractors and government officials to rig public tenders.  It is clear that the process demands greater transparency, fairness, and reliability. It is also clear that actors from all sectors—from civil society watchdogs to the companies at the heart of the corruption scandal—need to work together if we are to make meaningful improvements to the public procurement environment in Brazil. Toward this end, the Brazil Insitute held a workshop on September 11th, 2018 to explore practical solutions to increase transparency and efficiency in public procurement in Brazil and beyond.  The session focused on a new project, proposed by a group of business and civil society leaders in Brazil. Speakers included Ricardo Young (Instituto Ethos), Caio Rodriguez (Barros Pimentel Advogados), Felipe Moreno (JusBrasil), Ricardo Simoes (Odebrecht), and Joel Velasco (Albright Stonebridge Group). They outlined their proposal for an independent, non-profit entity dedicated to improving the transparency, efficiency, and competitiveness of the infrastructure sector. A core element of the project is the establishment of an independent yet verifiable monitoring system for public tenders through state-of-the-art data analysis technologies.