Brasilia - Senator Tereza Cristina (PP-MS) will launch the Diálogos Institute on Wednesday, February 25th, in Brasilia, to foster economic debates and public policies in areas such as agribusiness, geoeconomics, productivity, labor market, social security, and infrastructure.
Conceived over two years, the institute was created with a board of directors chaired by Tereza and comprised of eight founding partner companies, including multinationals: Itaú, Cargil (trading), Yara (fertilizers), Corteva (biotechnology), Cocamar (agricultural cooperative), FS (agribusiness), Hidrovias do Brasil (Ultra Group), and Tereos (ethanol).
In an interview with NeoFeed , Tereza clarifies that the institute is non-partisan and will not have political involvement. A leader in the Brazilian agribusiness sector with experience in various parties such as PSB and DEM, Tereza was Minister of Agriculture during the administration of former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and is frequently mentioned as a potential candidate for a presidential ticket on the right. She also previously chaired the Parliamentary Agricultural Front (FPA).
“We analyzed several institutes in Brazil, and I felt the lack of certain things even back then. I was dissatisfied with the fact that we have very superficial debates in the country, and I think we need deeper discussions,” she says.
The senator explains that the institute will promote seminars and debates with academics, thinkers, and businesspeople from various sectors of the economy. The idea is to present proposals and ideas to governments, academia, and civil society organizations. The first seminar will be on the topic of geoeconomics and is scheduled to take place at the end of May in São Paulo.
“We want to bring people from all sides together to deepen the discussion of the most important issues for the country,” he says. “After geoeconomics, we want to address productivity, and we can also set up working groups to delve into these topics.”
Tereza has not yet revealed any names, but NeoFeed has learned that one name being considered for the first panel is Fareed Zakaria, a writer, CNN presenter, and analyst of geopolitics and international affairs. His institute wants to invite respected personalities and names in their respective fields, both Brazilian and foreign.
She explains, however, that Diálogos will not be an institute focused on proposing legislation of interest to specific sectors – as is the case with the Instituto Pensar Agro (IPA), which functions as the technical arm of the FPA, better known as the agribusiness caucus in Congress.
The IPA is composed of more than 50 entities that represent agriculture in Brazil and advises the agricultural caucus in discussions of bills being processed in Congress.
"The institute is non-partisan. It is not linked to the PP [her party] or any other party. I want total impartiality to discuss the issues and listen to all stakeholders: the private sector, academia," says the Senator.
