Brazil drafting policy to boost datacenter industry

Financing for datacenter companies via BNDES, cutting import taxes on equipment and products and flexibility to bring in foreign workers are some of the measures considered by the Brazilian government to boost the local datacenter industry. 

“The logic that we have been proposing to work on encompasses all links in the value chain,” said Marcos Augusto Gonçalves, head of foreign trade at development, industry and commerce ministry MDIC, which is leading the effort. 

At an event hosted by datacenter association ABDC in São Paulo, Gonçalves presented a public policy draft that calls for lowering the industry's operating expenses through incentives to make datacenters more energy efficient.

The government is also looking to help out on the labor front by offering training in partnership with the private sector and easing rules to bring in foreign workers. Other proposals include lowering levies on imported equipment.

The BNDES development bank has expressed interest in financing the sector through a model that remains to be defined and which will require input from the private sector, Gonçalves to the audience.

“I see it positively. I think we are on the right path. Mainly with regards to specialized labor and financing incentives,” ABDC president Gustavo Moraes told BNamericas.

A specific tax regime for the sector proposed by ABDC was ruled out for now by MDIC, as congress is already in the process of approving a broad tax reform.  

ABDC represents over 100 companies, including Equinix, CloudHQ and equipment providers Modular, Huawei, Green 4T, Vertiv and ABB.