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Cities in search of solutions

odebrecht informa YOUR MAGAZINE TURNS 40

INNOVATIVE SPIRIT ATTRACTS YOUNG PROFESSIONALS TO BRASKEM


Pursuing

good city dreams

Our teams have built numerous projects in many cities around the world. Dozens of those cities have boosted their urban development with our help. Refurbishing public spaces, building tunnels, overpasses, and light rail systems, building and revitalizing roadways, and operating sanitation systems is all very gratifying. But nothing gives us more satisfaction than knowing that what we do is critical to improving the lives of the people who live in those cities.



E D I T O R I A L

THE SPIRIT OF TRANSFORMATION B

uenos Aires, Paranaíta, Lima, Cabo de Santo Agostinho, Luanda, Salvador, Mauá, Santo André, Miami, Goiânia, Rio de Janeiro. Cities. Centers of population. People. The backdrops of achievements, victories and challenges, successes and stress – because that’s life, and the big cities are the “front line” where life happens, with all its marvels and muddles. In this issue of Odebrecht Informa, our special feature showcases Urban Development. You can read all about initiatives that will help cities play their essential role of housing people and nurturing their dreams; their desire and need for the pursuit of happiness. These initiatives can count on Odebrecht’s contributions, whether through the construction of metros, expressways and airports, or brand-new neighborhoods, urban development services and renewal projects that change the look of entire areas of the city. From Greater São Paulo, with nearly 20 million inhabitants, to Paranaíta, in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, with a population of 10,000, including the capital of Argentina, Buenos Aires, whose history is closely linked to the

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railway system, as well as Angola’s capital, Luanda, and Rio de Janeiro, which are experiencing profound changes due to the reorganization of their roadways, cities are seeking pathways and solutions. We belong to the cities and they belong to us. This relationship will get better as soon as we convince ourselves that they are also living organisms. In the pages of our special feature, you will see examples that will determine how we see and relate to cities and – while respecting their history, character and spirit – our way of transforming them. This issue also contains reports on other topics – including the magazine itself. There is a very special reason for that: Odebrecht Informa celebrated its 40th birthday in October 2013. We decided to cover that story by listening to the people who are the magazine’s reason for being: our readers. Good reading. And thank you very much for taking the time to peruse Odebrecht Informa; for making it a daily companion. By doing so, you are giving meaning to the existence of the Odebrecht Group’s oldest publication. ]


Ď€ Passengers at Liniers Station on the Sarmiento Line in Buenos Aires, Argentina

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H I G H L I G H T S

COVER

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Butantã Station on the São Paulo Metro. Photo by Edu Simões

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Urban Development Discover some of the ideas and projects that are changing cities – and lifestyles – in Brazil and the world The Mineral Pier Project in the Port of Callao symbolizes a new era in investments in Peru’s port facilities

SUSTAINABILITY

72 54 Land Access Fund: development is within reach for small farmers in the Southern Bahia Lowlands

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WALKING HAND IN HAND Odebrecht marks 25 years of operations in Portugal and 10 in the United Arab Emirates


FOLKS

INTERVIEW

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A glimpse of the daily lives of Adriana Brito, Winston Lewis, Richard Cook and Kátia Freitas

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YOUTH Braskem is one of the favorite companies for Brazilian college students, and its innovative spirit has everything to do with that

COMMUNITY Braskem Idesa, the company responsible for the Ethylene XXI project, is one of the companies that young Mexican professionals

Odebrecht Informa The Group’s oldest corporate communication publication marks 40 years of existence

Carlos Mathias, CEO of Odebrecht Industrial, discusses the Biocom Project’s impact on the Angolan economy

ARGUMENT

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Kátia Mello, from the Diagonal Transformação de Territórios company, shares her viewpoint on social management

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C O V E R

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CHANGING FOR OUR SAKE DISCOVER SOME OF THE PROJECTS THAT ARE HELPING CITIES BECOME MORE EFFICIENT AND HOSPITABLE IN BRAZIL AND AROUND THE WORLD

π American Airlines Arena (right): a milestone in the renewal of a large part of downtown Miami

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D e v e l o p m e n t

Edu Simões

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The train approaches Liniers Station in Buenos Aires. The Sarmiento Line, the main railway line in a city whose history is intimately linked to its trains, is going to change. Porto da Barra in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, a traditional watering spot that has produced lots of good songs and enduring friendships, will be changing too. So will downtown Rio de Janeiro and several parts of Luanda, Angola. The focus of the special feature you are about to read is Urban Development. Our reporters and photographers traveled throughout Brazil and the world in search of initiatives that symbolize the spirit of Odebrecht’s contributions to improving urban living conditions - from major metropolises like São Paulo, Lima and Miami to small cities like Paranaíta and Mauá - taking a close look at projects that are helping make megacities and their smaller counterparts fulfill their role as human habitats. From major landscaping projects to brand-new neighborhoods, including the construction of expressways and thoroughfares, airports and more, the projects showcased in this special report are mainly focused on finding solutions to meeting expectations. Cities are the places where we work and play, laugh and cry, experiencing hits and misses. They are where we live. Our cities are the environment and backdrop for everything we do and everything we are. Our cities are growing because of our desire for growth. Because we are the cities and the cities are us. 8


π Porto da Barra, Salvador, Bahia: a more harmonious coexistence between pedestrians and vehicles

A NEW LOOK FOR PORTO DA BARRA Written by Ricardo Sangiovanni | Photos by Arthur Ikishima

The beginnings of a new concept of the city are starting to leave the drawing board in Salvador, Bahia, precisely in the area where the story of that city - and Brazil - began. Located at the entrance of the city’s iconic Todos os Santos (All Saints) Bay, centuries before becoming the vibrant upper-middle-class neighborhood it is today, the Barra district was the site of the village founded by Brazil’s first Portuguese settler, Diogo Álvares Correia, or “Caramuru.” The city government has decided that Barra will be getting a new look and infrastructure. Called Salvador’s New Oceanfront – Barra Section, the project got started in October. Its main hallmark is the transformation of two segments of the area’s busiest thoroughfares and a few side streets leading from the oceanfront into shared use areas. Continuous, leveland colorful paving without any markers or dividers between sidewalks and lanes will prioritize pedestrians and cyclists instead of cars and buses. In short, 3.2 kilometers of lanes once used by motor vehicles will soon be transformed into a giant boardwalk.

The idea is to follow one the main global trends in urban development: restricting motor traffic without penalizing it in order to encourage the use of alternative means of transportation, and above all, the occupation of public space by people. Because it is located at the “tip” of the city, which mainly lies on an arrowhead-shaped peninsula, this stretch of Barra is ideal for trying out this new concept. Most of the nearly 120 bus routes that now pass through it can be replaced by a few circular lines operated by minibuses. As for other types of vehicles, only essential services (garbage collection, ambulances, police and other public services) and residents will be allowed to drive through the area. And even then, the speed limits will be 20 to 30 km per hour. Refurbishing infrastructure The project will be delivered in two stages: first, from the Barra Center mall on Oceanica Avenue to the Santa Maria Lighthouse, in addition to Barão de Sergy and Barão de Itapoã avenues, which will be completed by February (before Carnival), and the second,

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π Francisco Senna: “You can gauge the quality of life of a place by the quality of its sidewalks”

from there to Fort São Diogo, running along the entire beachfront area of Porto da Barra, and including Marques de Leão Avenue, for which the deadline is June (before the 2014 FIFA World Cup). The project is much more than a facelift for the area. Valued at BRL 57.7 million, the project - part of a larger program being carried out by the City of Salvador, which also plans to remodel several stretches of the oceanfront also provides for refurbishing infrastructure facilities and urban furniture. In this respect, the most noticeable change will involve the entire network of wiring for public lighting: it will go underground, and the only parts that will be visible will be the light poles (even so, all of them will be brand new and redesigned). Telecommunications cables will also run underground, and water mains will be refurbished and, in some places, replaced. New underground pipes may also be used to install piped gas systems. The sidewalks will be reserved for benches, trees and the famous white balustrade, a hallmark of the district, which serves as a guardrail between the sidewalk and the beach. “This is a strategic project that is replete with challenges,” explains Project Director Henrique Paixão. “First, because of the deadlines related to Carnival and the World Cup. Second, because even the smallest

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change requires careful planning, since it involves dialogue with the government and concession companies. And, of course, because it is an area of enormous significance for the city and for our client,” observes Paixão. Because it is a project that directly affects the lives of the people who live and work in the neighborhood, Paixão’s priority is dialogue with the community. “We maintain a channel of communication that is available 24 hours a day. We want to make sure that our work has the least possible impact on residents’ daily lives,” emphasizes Paixão. To minimize the headaches the project might cause, the roads have changed direction and signaling is already optimized. The project management team has also set up a reception and information center equipped with information boards, updated schedules, photographs and sketches showing “before-and-after” views of the district. Open daily to the public, the center is receiving nearly a thousand visitors per week. Historic heritage The reception center was set up in front of Fort Santa Maria, one of the three sixteenth- and seventeenth-century forts, all listed national heritage sites,


within the new Barra. There, visitors will also find panels displaying information about the history of those architectural and historic monuments and the neighborhood itself. Francisco Senna, a retired professor at the Federal University at Bahia (UFBA) who specializes in the architectural history of Salvador, believes that transforming the area around the three forts into plazas and recreational areas will help showcase and preserve Barra’s historic heritage. Proud of the historical significance of the neighborhood where he has lived since 1979, Senna stresses the fact that Barra was the setting of the first experiences of racial mixture between Portuguese and Amerindians in Brazil. He also explains that even before Salvador was officially founded, the area around Porto da Barra in the first half of the sixteenth century was the site of Caramuru’s Village and the town established by the captaincy’s first grantee, Francisco Pereira Coutinho, who got the worst of a dispute with the native Tupinambá people and was eaten alive. Finally, the first governor-general of Brazil, Tomé de Souza, arrived in Porto da Barra in 1549, going on to found Salvador a few miles away. From then on, the area became known as Vila Velha (Old Town), and

until the early twentieth century, it was a fishing village far outside the city center. In addition to being rich in history, the Barra district also contains architectural treasures, including the three forts (particularly Fort Santo Antonio, with its famous lighthouse and harmonious integration with the rugged terrain of the hillock on which it was built), and the Oceania Building, designed by the Ferreira and Sodré architectural firm (“a jewel of the late Art Deco style,” according to Senna), built between 1939 and 1943. Better yet, “The Oceania [Building] is so beautiful that it seems to have burgeoned from the earth,” says the historian with a smile. “In the twentieth century, Barra was a quiet residential district that also had some service establishments. It was a great place for relaxing strolls and romantic walks,” says Senna, who nostalgically recalls the simultaneously bucolic and bohemian neighborhood that saw the Tropicália pop music scene emerge in the 1960s, but whose quality of life has deteriorated since a number of bus routes were authorized to run through there in the 1980s. “My expectation is that the quality of life of this neighborhood will be restored. You can gauge the quality of life of a place by the quality of its sidewalks.” ]

π Illustration of what Barra’s boardwalk will look like: more walking space

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MEASURING UP TO THE CITY Written by João Marcondes | Photos by Almir Bindilatti

The year is 1974. Goiânia Airport has just been included in the list of facilities managed by Infraero, the Brazilian airport authority. Just two planes per day are landing on its modest airstrip. Onlookers watch in amazement as a British Avro aircraft, a turbo-prop model owned by Varig airlines, comes in for a landing. Air travel is an elegant affair. Meals are sophisticated, served with silverware on china plates. Women are carefully made up and show off their finest frocks. The men wear dress shirts and tailored suits. Bermuda shorts and sandals may be a common sight on Brazilian planes today, but back then that sort of apparel was unthinkable. The airplanes of 2013 are a different story. The city of Goiânia has changed, too. The planned state capital of Goiás has grown and developed thanks to the influx of wealth from the interior. Founded in 1933, the city is a young and beautiful octogenarian. It boasts the title of the state

capital with the largest green area in the country. It has 1.4 million inhabitants and is the 30th largest city in Brazil, in terms of per capita income (BRL 1,348, compared with the national average of BRL 748). According to 2010 Census data published by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), Goiânia’s residents enjoy the best infrastructure conditions in Brazil. An analysis of 15 cities with more than 1 million inhabitants shows that Goiânia has the highest scores for street signage (94.1%), lighting (99.6%), curbs (97.5%) and tree planting (89.5%), in addition to getting the lowest - and best – scores for households with open sewers (0.5%) and garbage accumulation (2.6%). It has tremendous potential for becoming a major logistics hub because it lies right in the heart of Brazil, just 200 km from Brasilia, the nation’s capital, but there is a problem. Everything in the city has made progress except

π The departure lounge today: expansion is an urgent necessity

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π Goiânia Airport’s runway: soon the city will have better conditions for exploiting its potential as a logistics hub

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π Odebrecht team during the earthmoving phase: the new airport leaves the drawing board

Santa Genoveva Airport, which still lags far behind. “Our visitors tell us that our airport is among the worst in the country,” says Euclides Alves da Silva Neto, 31, a taxi driver who operates at Santa Genoveva. “The airport is our gateway, our calling card, so that has got to change,” he adds. And it will. Working in partnership with Via Engenharia, Odebrecht will deliver Santa Genoveva Airport’s new and eagerly awaited passenger terminal by March 2015. As a result, the

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airport’s transport capacity will increase from 3.5 million to 5.1 million passengers per year. “In addition to boosting capacity, the airport will be much more comfortable for the passengers,” says Odebrecht Project Manager Marcelo Araújo. The new 34,100-sq.m facility will be four times larger than the present 7,571-sq.m terminal. Today, planes have to disembark passengers right onto the runway, amid the noise of jet engines and the movement of baggage wagons. The new terminal will be equipped with four jet


bridges. Inside, it will get four escalators, 11 elevators, and enough shops to make it an “Aero Mall.” The aim is to strengthen the airport’s retail operations with a focus on the development of visual identity, employee training, and improving the business mix and market communication. Logistics hub “This airport is a question of self-affirmation for residents of Goiás. It will enable us to harness our potential for being a logistics hub for the entire country,” says Goiás Secretary of Infrastructure Danilo de Freitas. “In addition, Santa Genoveva will finally link 31 airports in other parts of the state, connecting important regions for conducting business and developing tourism in the state of Goiás, which has beautiful attractions like Chapada dos Veadeiros, the historic city of Pirenópolis and the hot springs in Caldas Novas,” he says. Goiânia already stands out for its business events, especially in sectors like pharmaceuticals (with an industrial park that is home to nearly 30 pharma companies in the Anápolis region) and textiles (over 2,000 clothing manufacturers). It has two convention centers and a

third is being built. “Now we will also have an airport that ranks among the finest in Brazil,” observes Infraero consultant Valter Eustáquio de Faria. In addition to building the new terminal, the Odebrecht/Via Engenharia joint venture is developing a master plan for related infrastructure projects, including a taxiway, aircraft apron, parking facility, roadways, and external sewage, water and power, and lighting systems. “The expectation is that the master plan and budget will be approved by the TCU [Court of Accounts] so we can complete those works along with the passenger terminal in 2015,” explains Marcelo Araújo. “We are looking forward to seeing the new terminal, that’s true. We have been waiting for this project for a long time. As a consumer, the current airport does not meet my needs. It is cramped and uncomfortable,” emphasizes dentist Gheira D’Arc da Silva. Her husband, Osvaldo Moreira, works in insurance, and flies about eight times a year. “Many business people, including folks from São Paulo, choose to live in Goiânia because of the quality of life here. The construction of the new airport will mark the end of a cycle, firmly establishing our city as an urban center of excellence in Brazil,” he argues. ]

π Taxi driver Euclides Neto: the planned renovation of the external area of the airport is creating great expectations

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π Route MT-206: the paving of a 55-km section has ushered in a new era for the local economy

WELCOME, BLACKTOP Written by João Paulo Carvalho | Photos by Márcio Lima

It’s five to two in the afternoon. “Thirty-three degrees [Celsius] in the shade,” the pilot announced in a humorous tone before landing the plane in late October in Alta Floresta, the largest town in northern Mato Grosso within a radius of 290 km. This hot and prosperous city is a hub for its smaller neighbors, which want to be connected, particularly by the trade and logistics opportunities offered by the local airport. One of those smaller cities is Paranaíta, home to just over 10,000 people, on the border with the state of Pará. That is where the Teles Pires Dam, one of the 10 largest infrastructure projects underway in Brazil, is under construction. When it goes online, it will have enough capacity to generate 1,820 MW of power. Begun in August 2011, that project has brought about a major transformation in the local community. Besides creating about 10,000 work opportunities (directly and indirectly) that are helping fuel the economy, the dam has made it possible to make a long-held dream come true for that

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community: paving the roads connecting the two cities. What may seem simple (and is) for many can be complicated and difficult for many others, in this case, the people who live in Paranaíta. Simply going to school or receiving a shipment from Alta Floresta was hampered by the lack of a road that did not dissolve when it rained, and rain is part of life in that region. Their torment ended in October with the paving of a 55-km stretch of Highway MT-206, a project carried out by Odebrecht Infraestrutura (Infrastructure) for Companhia Hidrelétrica Teles Pires (CHTP), the company that manages the hydroelectric plant, with the support of the City of Paranaíta and the State of Mato Grosso, through tax exemptions. Blacktop According to Mayor Tony Rufatto, the “blacktop,” as he calls the paved route, is something the local community has been eagerly awaiting. “We lost a lot of time and money because of that dirt road.


Now it takes 40 minutes to travel a distance that could take up to five hours on rainy days. Cars and trucks were constantly getting stuck on that stretch of road, and the only thing to do was send tractors to pull them out,” his honor recalls. “Now there are lots of business people and producers who have shown interest in settling in our county, including the owner of a cold storage facility. We have tremendous potential in this region, and that potential will be realized thanks to the arrival of the highway,” he adds. Symbolizing progress and the circulation of wealth, two banks have opened branches in Paranaíta, where there used to be none at all. One example of progress brought by the prospects the new highway is opening up is the story of Euza Maria Coelho dos Santos, better known as Baiana, the owner of the Laços e Abraços restaurant, one of the busiest in Paranaíta. “I’ve served Odebrecht people since the beginning of the project and I knew that road would become a reality. Even after so many setbacks over the 12 years I’ve lived here, I’ve always believed that things would

π Ademar Alberton, the owner of the Dema printing shop: doubling the number of workers

change for the better in this town. After signing a contract with Odebrecht to supply food, I was able to invest in my own business. I bought a new building, decorated it like I’ve always wanted, and now I have 22 people on my payroll, making good wages,” says the restaurateur with pride. Ademar Alberton owns the Dema printing shop. He stresses that the arrival of a project of this magnitude is giving a significant boost to the growth of his town. “I’ve owned this business for 27 years and never thought of expanding it because of low demand. Today, after the arrival of the hydroelectric plant and the construction of this road, business has tripled. I had to expand the equipment area and double the number of employees to handle all the orders that keep coming in,” he says, clearly in a mood to celebrate. A challenge per year In addition to paving the 55 km route between Alta Floresta and Paranaíta, the rehabilitation of the highway also included another 41 km linking Paranaíta to the junction of the road that leads to the Teles Pires Dam construction site. Less sophisticated and unpaved, although within the construction parameters required by the National Department of Transport Infrastructure (DNIT), this part of the project ensures that the heavy equipment required to build the plant, such as turbines, will arrive at the jobsite intact. “Without that it would be impossible to transport so many heavy parts because there were wooden bridges and steep curves on the road, which would have made the trucks tip over,” says the Project Director for the hydroelectric plant, Antônio Augusto Santos, who adds: “It is very satisfying to feel the workers’ perspective and understand how they view the progress of the work and our constant struggle to improve their quality of life at the jobsite, as well as for the town’s residents. Every year we overcome a different challenge: in late 2012, the goal was to install a cell phone tower. Done. This year, approximately 800 company members were deployed to build the road. Mission accomplished again.” ]

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A PIECE OF HEAVEN Written by Carlos Pereira | Photo by Lia Lubambo/Lusco

With over 30 years’ experience in real estate, Djean Cruz, CEO of Odebrecht Realizações Imobiliárias (Real Estate Developments) Bahia/Pernambuco, considers the company a “seller of dreams.” The success of Reserva do Paiva, the first planned neighborhood in the northeastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco is exciting, even for that seasoned entrepreneur. “We will get spectacular results, a model for future developments. Usually there is huge gap between what you imagine and what is actually feasible,” he says. Reserva do Paiva was born from a challenge: finding the best way to use the precious strip of land in Santo Agostinho, in Greater Recife, owned by the Cornelio Brennand and Ricardo Brennand groups. The area is in the path of the state capital’s southerly growth, moving in the direction of the Suape Port Complex, now Pernambuco’s main driver of development. Covering 5 million square meters blessed with stunning natural beauty, in addition to 8.5 km of pristine beaches with extensive coconut groves and natural pools, Reserva do Paiva contains 500 hectares of Atlantic Forest remnants and mangroves bordering the mighty Jaboatão River. Luís Henrique Valverde, Regional Director of Odebrecht Realizações Imobiliárias, has followed the project every step of the way. He observes that it did not take long to perceive its fabulous potential, “but there were lots of questions about how to get the best results.” A blueprint was prepared and offered to the City of Santo Agostinho and the State of Pernambuco. The aim of that document was to optimize the project’s potential, establishing the typology of Reserva do Paiva and providing information on housing, mobility, the need for public and private facilities and specific uses (commercial, residential, industrial or mixed), among other details. “The project immediately grabbed their interest,” says Luís Henrique. After three years of intense debate, the blueprint was incorporated into the official Master Plan for Santo Agostinho, and that has made the project feasible. Difficulty of access, for example, was resolved through a Public Private Partnership (PPP), which allowed construction of a bridge over the Jaboatão River, along with additional road infrastructure. “A PPP with an initial investment of BRL 105 million is leveraging Pernambuco’s premier real estate and tourism development, which could reach

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overall sales value of BRL 12 billion. The State’s understanding of the potential of the project was critical to its success,” says Luís Henrique. In five years, Reserva do Paiva has delivered a gated community, Morada da Península (Peninsula Residence), and an apartment complex called Vila dos Corais (Coral Villa). Additional projects include a multipurpose complex with office towers and a shopping center called Novo Mundo Empresarial (New Business World), a five-star Sheraton hotel, and residential towers that make up Terraço Laguna (Laguna Terrace). Soon, the area will get its first school, a service mall and a supermarket, as well as the 6.6-hectare Paiva Park, the first of several slated public facilities. The district’s urban mobility system has been planned for the next 30 years. “The neighborhood will be built in 25 stages, and this system will be implemented as it develops,” explains Luís Henrique. “My children and grandchildren loved it” The Vila dos Corais apartment complex was voted “Residential Development of the Year” in a survey organized by the São Paulo Housing Syndicate (Secov) and the newspaper O Estado de São Paulo. The award is considered the “Oscars” of the Brazilian real estate market and was the first of that magnitude awarded to a development in the Northeast. Attorney Roberta Abreu e Lima and her physician husband decided to buy the property as an investment, but they were so enchanted by the sophistication of the complex that they decided to make it their new home. “It’s like living in a first-class resort. Everything has been thought out with the utmost care, from the exclusive design of the lighting to the gourmet dining room to the efficient security system. My children and grandchildren loved it,” says Roberta. Marcos Herszkowicz, 36, a corporate manager from São Paulo, is another investor who was delighted with the high quality of Vila dos Corais and the potential of this brand new district. He wanted to improve his quality of life by moving into the complex. He and his bride, who is from Pernambuco, made the decision together. A sportsman, when asked which of the various options available he prefers (surfing, sailing, tennis, soccer, volleyball, running, swimming, golf and indoor sports), he happily replied: “All of them.” ]


Ď€ Roberta Abreu e Lima at Vila dos Corais: the feeling of living in a first-class resort

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π Construction of Olympic Park in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro: guaranteed legacy

OLYMPIC DISTRICT Written by Eduardo Souza Lima | Photo by Rogério Reis

Twenty-one years have gone by, but when it comes to its Olympic legacy, the port area of Barcelona is still remembered. The people building Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro are working to make sure that it, too, will be mentioned two decades later as another good example of how a city can get much more than a brief period of visibility from a major international event. Planning and bold, sustainable ideas are the main raw materials that Odebrecht Infraestrutura (Infrastructure) Brazil is using to make sure that that dream becomes a reality. Olympic Park is being built in the Barra da Tijuca district, on the grounds of the former Jacarepaguá Racecourse, in a 1.18 million square-meter area. It will host 15 Olympic sports contests including basketball, judo, tennis,

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cycling and swimming, as well as 10 Paralympic sports. After 2016, part of this huge sports complex will be transformed into a neighborhood that will serve as a benchmark for sustainability and accessibility for the city. It is located next to the Olympic Training Center, which will be a legacy for preparing future generations of Brazilian athletes. More than 30 percent of this new residential area of Rio de Janeiro will contain green areas, including a park on the shores of Jacarepaguá Lagoon, and will be serviced by the new Transolímpica and Transcarioca BRT lines. The construction of the complex was made possible by a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) signed between the Rio Mais Concessionaire (formed by Odebrecht, Andrade Gutierrez and Carvalho Hosken) and the City of Rio de Janeiro, following


a technical cooperation agreement between the City and the Federal Government. The PPP has a duration of 15 years, a period which includes the construction of the Olympic Park facilities and the maintenance of the future neighborhood. The concession contract includes the construction of three main arenas, the Main Press Center (MPC), the International Broadcast Center (IBC), a 400-room hotel and the entire infrastructure for Olympic Park and the Athletes’ Village. The technical cooperation agreement with the Federal Government includes the construction of the Aquatics Center and Handball Arena as temporary facilities, and the Tennis Center and Velodrome, which will become part of the future Olympic Training Center. The projects covered by the PPP add up to a total investment of about BRL 1.4 billion. The project is divided into two phases: Games Mode, which covers the period until 2016, and Legacy Mode, which comes after the Olympics. Some of the buildings already under construction will be used for the Games and the new neighborhood. “This project required a detailed technical study, not only for the infrastructure but also for part of the landscaping. The biggest challenge is to make these two modes overlap. The entire utilities infrastructure is being designed to serve the Legacy Mode, but it will be built beforehand, during the works for the Games Mode,” explains the Rio Mais Concessionaire’s Engineering Manager, Tomnila Lacerda. Nomadic design After the Games, the hotel will be used to house visitors and tourists, while the MPC and IBC will become commercial buildings. Other facilities will also be reused in different parts of the city. “We are working with the concept of nomadic design,” says Leandro Azevedo, the CEO of Odebrecht Infraestrutura for that state. For example, the Handball Arena, which will be built in an area of about 35,000 square meters, is going to be dismantled and converted into four public schools, while the tennis courts will be reassembled in underserved communities (but their infrastructure will be utilized in the future Olympic Park neighborhood). The example of Lisbon Lisbon has not hosted an Olympics yet, but the Portuguese capital is also an excellent example of how a city can take advantage of the

opportunity of hosting international events. The Project Director of the Rio Mais Concessionaire, Fernando Pacheco, returned to Brazil after living and working in that country for 21 years and is contributing the professional experience he built up there to the construction of Olympic Park. “It is a country that teaches us valuable lessons in terms of legacy. Portugal has hosted major events such as Euro 2004 and Expo'98, and used them to modernize its infrastructure. I helped build important projects for Expo'98, including the construction of Gare do Oriente station, which was designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. Like Olympic Park, the entire area occupied by the expo underwent a process of redevelopment and was converted into a new neighborhood,” says Pacheco says. The Project Director also started applying the lessons in sustainability that he learned on the other side of the ocean when the race track’s facilities began to be dismantled in July 2012. “The offices at the construction site were built under the old bleachers, taking advantage of their structures. The idea is always reuse materials as much as possible,” he says. Rio Mais’s goal is to obtain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for the construction of the park’s permanent facilities. Rational use of water is a high priority. “Four sports facilities at Olympic Park will be built by other companies, but we have designed an integrated distribution system for them that is based on the principles of sustainability to avoid wastage,” says Pacheco. The three main arenas of Olympic Park, which will host basketball, judo and wrestling competitions, are among the highlights of the project carried out by Rio Mais. The first of their kind in Brazil, these facilities will be the most advanced in Latin America, seating up to 36,000 spectators. “The three arenas were designed and are being built on the basis of LEED. We have planned the air conditioning equipment and electrical system on the basis of those principles. We have also paid special attention to making the most of natural lighting,” says Tomnila. Future residents and visitors to Olympic Park will not be the only ones to enjoy all these benefits, and they may even see new champions arrive on the scene. After all, when the Games are over, the arenas will become part of the Olympic Training Center, grooming future generations of high-performance athletes. ]

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R E N E W A L

THE BEST OF EVERYTHING IS THE HERE AND NOW Written by João Marcondes | Photos by Holanda Cavalcanti (SP) and Cícero Rodrigues (RJ)

A man is walking across the foyer. He is clad in a suit, tie, sports a hat and uses a cane. His wife is wearing a beautiful blue outfit that matches her crystalline eyes. The click-clack of shoes on the floor echoes through the high-ceilinged space. He looks outside the building’s glassed-in lobby and sees the line of trees he planted. He exchanges a friendly look with the building’s receptionist. The man is 95 years old, and his name is Miguel Rizzo. “I feel like a part owner of this here,” he jokes as he shoots a knowing look at his wife, Josefa Moreno Rizzo, 84, from the Catalonia region of Spain. The São Paulo Odebrecht Building was constructed on land where Miguel’s auto repair shop once stood. Members of several different Odebrecht companies moved into their offices there in November. “The neighborhood needs improvements, and this project will bring development,” Miguel observes, admiring the 18-story building with another seven floors of parking garages. He has lived in the area since the 1940s, when going for wagon rides and playing soccer on a dirt pitch were everyday activities in that part of town. Today Butantã is a district that offers fresh development possibilities. “This potential has presented us with a challenge,” explains Alexandre Nakano, the Investments Director at Odebrecht Properties, which manages the building. “We want Butantã to be more than a path for real estate - a vector of growth.”

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π Miguel and Josefa Rizzo outside the new Odebrecht Building in São Paulo’s Butantã district: witnessing the changes underway in their neighborhood


π Alexandre Nakano: growth vector

The Odebrecht Building is designed to be sustainable. It will be equipped with the largest green wall (vertical garden) in São Paulo, as well as bicycle racks and changing rooms to encourage members to use that ecofriendly form of transportation. Odebrecht Properties is going to invest in adopting public squares, such as Oliveira Penteado Plaza opposite the building, and will encourage nearby initiatives aimed at boosting the local economy, such as the establishment of restaurants and hotels. The neighborhood, which now has 50,000 inhabitants, has become much busier and began welcoming companies such as Odebrecht since the opening of the Butantã Metro station, built by Odebrecht Infraestrutura (Infrastructure)-Brazil and its partners in the Via Amarela joint venture. “Approximately 20% of our members will live in the area, and we will form part of the cultural circuit, which includes the Mindlin Library, the University of São Paulo (USP) campus, the Butantã Institute, and the Glass House (designed by architect Lina Bo Bardi),” comments Nakano, adding that the Odebrecht Building will also house a Culture Center and theater. “Butantã is the ‘gateway’ to the West Zone of the city and Raposo Tavares and Regis Bittencourt highways. It is a pleasant area with vast growth potential, which will get even better thanks to the new

Master Plan for São Paulo, which should be ready in a year’s time,” emphasizes Bruno Scacchetti, the Developments Director at Odebrecht Realizações Imobiliárias (Odebrecht Real Estate Developments), which built the Group’s São Paulo headquarters. Porto Maravilha Nor is there a lack of possibilities for growth in the docklands of Rio de Janeiro, which are the focus of the largest revitalization project in Brazil. “Rio de Janeiro residents know nothing about this part of the city,” says José Renato Rodrigues Ponte, Managing Director of the Porto Novo Consortium. In order to get an idea, while a street was being broken up to carry out the project, the quay where Empress Leopoldina came ashore when she arrived in Brazil in the eighteenth century was discovered, right next to another underwater dock used to disembark slaves. Archeologists were called in, the area was fenced off and a tourist attraction emerged: the ruins of the old city underlying a bustling, modern metropolis. That task became a veritable treasure hunt, leading to the discovery of lost relics in the ground and the surrounding forests, such as Nossa Senhora da Saúde Church and the Hanging Gardens of Valongo.

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π Binary Road: two tunnels with three lanes in each direction running through Rio de Janeiro’s docklands

The renewal project, called Porto Maravilha (Port Wonder), is a major operation. It covers a 5 million square-meter region (the size of the Copacabana district) inside a quadrangle formed by the most important thoroughfares in downtown Rio de Janeiro: Francisco Bicalho, Rodrigues Alves, Rio Branco and Presidente Vargas. Its boldest move was demolishing the Elevado Perimetral (a raised beltway), which will spark an urban revolution and give the city more breathing room. The model for the project is a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) called an Urban Operation in Consortium. The Porto Novo Consortium is formed by Odebrecht Properties, OAS and Carioca. It will be responsible for providing various services over a 15-year period, such as garbage collection and traffic control. The structural projects involved include the construction of a new road system, which will increase the number of lanes in the region by 50%. This includes the Binary Road, which is 3.5 km in length (now open)

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and will run through the entire Port Region (with three lanes in each direction and two tunnels) and Rodrigues Alves, which will be transformed into an expressway. A large, 44,000-sq.m tree-lined public promenade will be built at street level, in the area between Mauá Plaza and Warehouse no. 8. Nearby, at the Mauá Pier, Porto Novo will build the Museu do Amanhã (Museum of Tomorrow), a project designed by the renowned Spanish architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava. Because the project was financed by Certificate of Additional Construction Potential (CEPAC) bonds issued by the City Council, the district will have an extended format, favoring the port’s growth. Just 25,000 people live in the area today (most of it is essentially taken up by abandoned warehouses and public buildings). “The expectation is that we will arrive at a population of 100,000, in a sustainable way,” states Geraldo Villin, the Managing Director for Public Properties at Odebrecht Properties. ]


π History and identity: projects in Rio de Janeiro’s docklands include works in the Largo do Valongo area

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Great memory, neighbor! Written by Thereza Martins | Photos by Wanezza Soares

π Maria Irileda da Silva in Capuava: “I’m still here, and I don’t intend to leave”

The residents of Parque Capuava, Jardim Silvia Maria and Jardim Sônia Maria, districts in the cities of Santo André and Mauá in Greater São Paulo, may be neighbors but they are also far apart, separated by their life stories and experiences in the region. While a large number of the residents of Capuava (Santo André) migrated there from northeastern states decades ago, fleeing the droughts and lack of opportunities in their home region, the people who live in Silvia Maria and Sônia Maria (Mauá) have deep roots in the São Paulo ABC region (an industrial region in Greater São Paulo). The Mauá neighborhoods have developed in a more or less organized

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way, while Capuava was a complete improvisation, built on the hillsides without any urban infrastructure or suitable living conditions to speak of. The ABC Petrochemical Complex is located in an area where those three neighborhoods come together. In order to tell the stories of these residents and their relationship with the complex, Braskem has developed the “Greater ABC Region Petrochemical Complex: Intertwining Stories” project. Flávio Chantre, the officer Responsible for Institutional Relations at the company at the ABC Complex, explains: “Braskem recognizes the importance of the neighboring communities to its own history. That is


why we wanted to tell the complex’s story through people’s life experiences”. Special date The idea for the exhibition came up in 2012, when the complex celebrated its 40th anniversary. It was the first petrochemical complex in Brazil, created in 1972, with the opening of the Petroquímica União (PQU) petrochemical plant. Flávio explains that Braskem wanted to organize special activities to mark that special date. “So we decided to record personal statements and give the local community an opportunity to reflect on its memories and identity.” Carried out by Braskem and the Museu da Pessoa (Museum of People), the project involved extensive research on the industrial complex and the surrounding communities and recorded 21 personal statements from new and longstanding residents. Then they selected excerpts of these statements and published them on illustrated panels, producing a mobile exhibition that traveled to public spaces and schools in all three neighborhoods from September to November 2013. Visitors could also listen to the complete sound recordings. The project also developed educational materials to be used in local public schools, covering topics such as residents’ places of origin, work relations and urban transformation, among others. “I’ve seen Capuava grow” Mauá became an independent city when it split from Santo André in 1954. Refinaria e Exploração de Petróleo União S.A. (later called the Capuava Refinery, or RECAP, which has merged with Petrobras) opened the same year; it was a milestone in the early years of the ABC Petrochemical Complex. Jardim Sônia Maria, one of the neighborhoods that are the main focus of the Braskem and Museu da Pessoa project, grew around the complex along a strip that lies between the manufacturing plants and a residential area. Sônia Maria and Silvia Maria are home to approximately 20,000 people. Maria Irileda da Silva, better known as “Dona Leda” in Capuava, was born in the northeastern city of Fortaleza. She moved to São Paulo 40 years ago, accompanied by her first husband, and has raised 11 children in the Capuava neighborhood. “I’m still here, and I don’t intend to leave. At first all I had was a small hut and a mattress on the floor. I managed to get by because I had help, and I also worked hard as a janitor at the plant when it was called PQU.” The house where she lives today is made of bricks and

ABC COMPLEX

Three decisive steps for its emergence and growth

2010

Braskem acquires Quattor, a company in the complex that produces Opening of Petroquímica basic petroUnião (PQU) chemicals, and creation polyethylene and propylene of ABC Petrochemi- at its units in cal Complex. Santo André and Mauá.

1972 1954

Opening of Refinery and Exploração de Petróleo União S.A. (Capuava Refinery).

mortar, like most of the homes in that community, and it has electricity, piped water, a sewer system and a paved street outside, where a sanitation truck comes by every day to pick up the garbage. These improvements, which included removing families living on the hillsides, at risk of landslides during the rainy season, were part of a Santo André City Hall urban development project that started in the late 1990s and went on for ten years. “I’ve seen Capuava grow. When I got here, everything in these parts was mud and forest. The only form of public transportation was the train that connects São Paulo to the ABC region. Now, we have bus lines, as well as the train.” Transforming communities The architect and city planner responsible for the Capuava urban development project, Luis Felipe Xavier, notes that the residents actively took part in the process, filling meeting rooms to discuss the project’s priorities, the work required and the investment of public funds. Roughly 7,000 people lived in that area in 2005. In addition to equipping Capuava with infrastructure, the urban development project included the construction of houses, apartment blocks and a day-care center.

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Luis Felipe explains that the complex had a more direct influence on the region’s life and economy until the end of the 1980s. “The Greater ABC Region experienced population growth of more than 200% within a 20-year period. Since the 1990s, commerce and services have grown more than industry.” Born in the middle-class neighborhood of Veleiros, in the Interlagos region of São Paulo, Luis Felipe recalls: “I grew up playing in the streets and

learned to get on with people from all walks of life. I also learned how good an organized neighborhood can be for its residents.” He sought to reproduce those childhood lessons in the urban development project and to pass on those values to his architecture students at the universities where he teaches. “The profession of an architect and city planner involves a transforming aspect, which is creating conditions for people to live and coexist in harmony.” ]

π Architect and urban planner Luis Felipe Xavier: stressing local residents’ involvement in the transformation of their communities

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LET’S GO DOWNTOWN Written by Eliana Simonetti | Photos by Fred Chalub

π Participants during the breast cancer awareness event, with the Metro Mover in the background: Odebrecht is present in Miami’s everyday life

Thousands of people from all over Greater Miami, Florida, traveled downtown on the Miami Metro Mover and gathered at Bayfront Park, on the oceanfront, to attend the 18th edition of a 5-km race held on Saturday, October 19, to raise awareness about breast cancer. In the middle of the crowd, several Odebrecht members wearing red t-shirts got together at the tent the company had set up to offer participants snacks, water and shade. The Miami Metro Mover is a surface subway that travels through the populous downtown area practically without making a sound. It was the first project Odebrecht built in the United States, in 1991, a year after the company’s arrival in that country. It is also a symbol of the city and its modern, pioneering spirit. Today, the Odebrecht brand is present almost everywhere you go in Miami. Airline passengers arriving at Miami International Airport (MIA), which the company has expanded and modernized, can take the MIA Mover, the elevated train that connects Miami International Airport to Miami Central Station, whose structure Odebrecht installed. On the way there, you will see the American Airlines Arena on one side and the Adrienne Arsht Center and on the other both built by Odebrecht in the city center, which was once a run-down area. If you arrive by sea you will immediately see the harbor expansion project there. Odebrecht is also involved in that. That is how Gilberto Neves, Odebrecht’s CEO in the United States, describes it, concluding: “Our projects are an integral part of people’s daily lives, which demonstrates that we understand the local needs.”

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π Giancarlos with his wife, Pilar, and their son Stefano: a 15-minute walk to work

Commitment to future growth In the evening on that same day, Saturday, October 19, the city’s basketball team, the Miami Heat, national champions in 2006, 2012 and 2013, faced the San Antonio Spurs at a home game in the American Airlines Arena. It was early in the season, but most of the 19,600 seats were full. The arena, built by Odebrecht right on the oceanfront, is a privileged venue. It also hosts large concerts, such as the Eagles, Julio Iglesias and Justin Timberlake, all scheduled within the next couple of months. “Miami is not a city: it is many cities,” says Peter Dolara, an Uruguayan who has been living in Miami for the past 50 years, and was Vice President of American Airlines when the arena was built. “The construction of our arena was a demonstration of commitment to the future growth of the city,” he adds. The following night, the Miami Symphony Orchestra, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary, opened the city’s musical season with a concert in one of the two halls of the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts – an

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Odebrecht project that, like the America Airlines Arena, has contributed decisively to the revitalization of downtown Miami. The Knight Concert Hall was packed. Giancarlo and Pilar Salinas were in the audience. They were both born in Peru and live in downtown Miami. Giancarlo Salinas left Peru to study in that city in 1998. Now he has a degree in industrial engineering and works at a bank. He and Pilar got married in 2006 and they just bought their apartment. “It takes me just 15 minutes to walk to work, which gives us more family time,” he says. Giancarlo and Pilar’s eighteen-month-old son Stefano is all smiles. “Miami is a multiple city. It is the emotional capital of Central and South America, and has just embarked on a phase of major growth,” says Bernardo Ziscovich, an architect who works on the city’s urban planning. According to him, in the run-up to the end of 2013, 5,000 apartments are under construction in downtown Miami. A history of major changes Throughout its history, Miami has experienced ups and downs; serious downturns and periods of


ICONIC PROJECT ODEBRECHT’S CONTRIBUTIONS TO MIAMI’S GROWTH USA

Miami

Biscayn e Boulev ard

Florida

I-95 Express

bustling economic and cultural activity. Purchased from Spain in 1821, it only joined the Union at the end of that century, when three major initiatives changed its destiny: a railroad that crossed the state of Florida, a port that enabled the US South to export its production, and a bridge that linked Miami and Miami Beach. In the first half of the 20th century, luxury hotels and leisure areas with golf courses sprang up all over town. Miami became a first-class tourist destination. Since the 1960s, the process of change has accelerated. The city’s port has become the largest cruise ship destination in the world. Miami International Airport is the second busiest in the country. More than 130 international banks and over 250 multinational corporations have opened branches in the city. Commercial buildings have sprung up where mansions once stood. The Art Deco style beachfront residences in Miami Beach are listed as historic heritage sites, and now house bars and restaurants. “We will continue to play an active role in the city’s urban development, helping build its sanitation projects and other infrastructure that will be required during this new phase of growth,” observes Gilberto Neves. ]

MIAMI

MIAMI BEACH

International Airport Adrienne Arsht Center

Airport Link (Orange Line)

AmericanAirlines Arena MIA Mover

Bayfront Park

Port Expansion

Metro Mover Over

5,000 Apartments Downtown

Biscayne Bay

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π American Airlines Arena: home to the Miami Heat basketball team and venue for major international shows

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Ď€ Mobility and organization: road projects are driving urban development and renewal in Luanda, Angola

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AMID STREETS, PLAZAS AND AVENUES Written by Boécio Vidal Lannes | Photos by Edu Simões

Luanda exudes progress and modernity. Residents and visitors alike are witnesses to the rapid and continuous transformation of Angola’s capital city and the entire country since peace was established a little over ten years ago. Streets, avenues and squares are being refurbished to improve the public’s quality of life. The city, which in 1970 had about 400,000 inhabitants, is now home to an estimated 6 million people or more. The need for urban planning to ease the constant traffic jams and reduce slums led what was then the Ministry of Urban Development and Construction to undertake a major structuring project in 2002: Road System of Luanda, characterized by the construction and revitalization of expressways, including the main drainage systems, signage and paving. The Ministry of Construction is now in charge of the project, following the modification of the ministry previously responsible for the initiative. The Provincial Government of Luanda has also developed the Luanda Roadways project to revitalize and modernize avenues, streets and common areas of the city center, with an emphasis on the humanization of areas and the civic education of users of these revitalized spaces. Both initiatives, which are being carried out under the responsibility of Odebrecht, have brought about major changes in the metropolitan area and reduced commuting time between the city center and the outlying districts. But despite this injection of urban development, the work is just getting started. Road System of Luanda Pointing to a map of the city, the Project Director for Road System of Luanda, Marcos Torres, explains that the two main roads that run through the city will soon be joined by a 5-km BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) line, a corridor used exclusively by articulated buses. He repeats an old Odebrecht maxim: “Transportation is an interconnected network.”

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A 21-year member of Odebrecht, Torres observes that 500,000 people have benefited from the 50 km of roads delivered in the last 11 years. In 2014, the company’s teams will start building the 8-km Via Marginal Sudoeste, a southwest oceanfront route with wide lanes. As soon as it is ready, new hotels, residential and commercial buildings and restaurants will be built along that roadway. The city has already seen a similar process take place on Samba Avenue, the first route Odebrecht refurbished, under a contract signed in 2002. Torres also takes pride in the benefits of Via S8, the route that links 21 de Janeiro Avenue to Golfe Road. “Urban renewal has improved local traffic and provided residents of the Gamek District with public services like water, storm drainage, phone service, garbage collection and lighting.” He believes that the most rewarding part of his job is helping improve the public’s quality of life. “I experienced that joy as a kid in [the Brazilian city of] Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais. The city government paved my street and my father and I celebrated a lot,” he recalls. Luzia Madalena Imbo, 23, observes that traffic really has improved. She is part of the legion of informal entrepreneurs who sell their products in the streets of Luanda. Hundreds of these women, called zungueiras, set up shop on a walkway on 21 de Janeiro Avenue, which links Ngola Mbando Street with Samba Avenue. Amid the hustle and bustle, Luzia stands out with her hearty smile and the large basket of bread on her head. She says she sells about 200 rolls per day, which brings in a small income of 5,000

ROAD SYSTEM OF LUANDA > Begun in 2002, it involves the construction and rehabilitation of expressways, including the main drainage systems, signaling and paving

π Luzia Madalena Imbo: a more hopeful view of the future

REVITALIZATION PROJECT FOR LUANDA’S THOROUGHFARES - LUANDA ROADWAYS

Ministry of Construction

> Refurbishing infrastructure and redesigning the urban landscape of the city’s main arteries, including the installation of drainage systems, underground wiring, paving, sidewalks, green areas and public lighting.

50 km

CLIENT

> Construction of an 8-km oceanfront route, Via Marginal Sudoeste, begins in 2014

> This project’s hallmarks are continuously revitalizing and expanding avenues, streets and public areas, based on a new urban planning concept by Brazilian architect Jaime Lerner

CLIENT

of roads delivered to the public in the last 11 years

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Province of Luanda

LUANDA SUL > Constructing a brand-new, fully planned district of Luanda that included the construction of Belas Shopping, Angola’s first shopping mall, which opened in 2007 CLIENT

Province of Luanda > Developed in stages, Luanda Sul has 65 km of roadways and 225 km of electric power systems, in addition to public lighting, drainage, and water and sewer systems


Guilherme Afonso

π Luanda Roadways: refurbishing infrastructure and redesigning the landscape of one of the city’s main thoroughfares

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kwanzas (about USD 50.00). “Taxi traffic is moving better,” says Luzia, referring to the vans that are the main and most characteristic means of public transport in Angola. Painted blue and white, they carry 12 to 14 people and can be seen all over Luanda. Aware of changes underway in her country, Luzia can’t wait to have a market and a school close to home. Luanda Roadways Designed to refurbish infrastructure facilities and redesign the streetscape of the city’s main arteries, the Revitalization Project for Luanda’s Thoroughfares (Luanda Roadways) stands out for its continuous expansion of avenues, streets and public areas through a new architectural concept that is replicating itself in other parts of the urban fabric. Signed in 2007, the contract covers the reconstruction of road infrastructure (drainage systems, wiring, paving, sidewalks, green areas and public lighting) and includes related services such as landscaping, traffic support, gardening, street cleaning, road maintenance, social work and communications. A key point for revitalizing the city, urban maintenance is an area where Odebrecht can also make a contribution, based on the company’s experience, the local socioeconomic situation and the best implementation of investments involved, according to Project Director Rodrigo Americano. With 12 years’ experience at Odebrecht and seven in Angola, he maintains a productive relationship with local administrators. “Our relationship of trust with the client goes beyond the contract. If they need emergency support for construction projects and social outreach programs, they call us in and we get to work immediately,” he says. In fact, it is not hard to find Odebrecht teams repairing the streets of Luanda. A Brazilian from Paulo Afonso, Bahia, Ednaldo Romão da Silva, 40, stopped working for a moment to chat with the Odebrecht Informa team inside a ditch dug for the water and sewer collection system that is being repaired in the Talatona neighborhood, in the southern part of the city. He leads a team of 40 people. A member of the Group for 13 years with a technical certificate in construction, he moved to Angola five years ago but returns to Brazil every four months to spend time with his wife and two children. Romão, as his co-workers call him, is well aware that his work is important for the development of Luanda and the country, and says he is

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ready to take on new challenges. “I’ll stay in Angola as long as Odebrecht wants me to.” One of the main differentiators for the Luanda Roadways Project is the participation of one of the world’s top urban planners, architect Jaime Lerner, whom Odebrecht has hired to redesign the urban space of Luanda and the way people interact with it. The distinctive style of the Brazilian architect, who was a three-term mayor of Curitiba, is particularly noticeable in the afforested areas on Deolinda Rodrigues Avenue, in the city center. Other distinctive features of that 1,360-m route are the sidewalks, lamps with special shades, lawns and wooden benches. Lerner has applied his concept of “urban acupuncture” in Luanda, through which the urban fabric reacts to and thrives on the revitalization of strategic points, just as acupuncture needles do in the human body, sparking a process of self-improvement through a chain reaction. The architect’s signature style can also be seen in the busiest public spaces on Ilha do Cabo (Cape Island), formed by the boardwalk and oceanfront esplanade opposite the Luanda Nautical Club. According to historians, the Portuguese navigator Diogo Cão landed on this island, which is where he first came into contact with the Angolan people between 1482 and 1486. The esplanade and boardwalk are perfect for sports and recreation. Bordering a vast stretch of sandy beaches, the promenade is characterized by its Portuguese stone paving adorned with beautiful patterns along its entire length. It is also flanked by a walking path, trees, exercise equipment and a beautiful view of the sea. The Luanda Roadways project has been so successful that it is now being developed inside the city’s neighborhoods. Valódia, a densely populated district where small cross streets are also being revitalized, is being used as a model. Streets that were once full of rubble, potholes and dirt are getting drainage systems, pavement, street lighting, road signaling and signage, and underground wiring. According to Rodrigo Americano, the reconstruction and redevelopment of the streets is having a positive impact on local residents’ habits. “In addition to improving the flow of traffic, we are seeing a clear change in people’s behavior.” As the reconstruction of roads in the city continues, the two infrastructure projects, the Road System of Luanda and Luanda Roadways, occasionally intersect and complement each other to the benefit of the local communities. This is happening


π Belas shopping mall in Luanda Sul

in the Praça dos Campeões (Plaza of Champions) on 21 de Janeiro Avenue. After the route was widened, the area used to store materials near the Rocha Pinto district was converted into a new square for recreational and sports activities, built by Luanda Roadways. It is equipped with benches, swings, exercise equipment, trash bins and two sports courts where young people divide their time between soccer and basketball. Jodilson Timás Gemes, 18, likes to go to the plaza to play soccer. “I come here whenever I can,” he says. Pleased with the new recreational area, the young man, who is studying Surveying at the Angolan Institute of Geography and Land Registry, dreams of working at Odebrecht when he finishes the course. Luanda Sul Another strategic contribution Odebrecht is making to urban development in the Angolan capital is the Luanda Sul (South Luanda) project, which involves building the city’s first fully planned district and has already resulted in the construction of Belas Shopping, Angola’s first shopping mall, which opened in March 2007. Built in a 120,000-sq.m area in a prime location in the Talatona area, 17 km

from the center of Luanda, it houses an impressive variety of shops that sell exclusive items. It is also equipped with a movie theater, food court, ample parking and a recreation area. The mall serves as a calling card for visitors to the neighborhood where it is located. In its successive stages, the Luanda Sul project has built 64 km of roadways and a 225-km power grid, as well as installing street lighting, drainage, and water and sewer systems. Construction companies from Brazil, Portugal and China are vying for land to build residential and business towers and hotels. The overall result is a better standard of urban living for the Angolan capital, focused on the renewal and regeneration of new neighborhoods. “Today, Luanda Sul has some of the highest property values per square meter in the city,” says Carlos Mathias, the CEO of Odebrecht Agroindustrial in Angola. Nineteen years ago, he headed the launch of the first planned subdivision in Luanda: the Cajueiro Condominium, funded partially by Sonangol (Angola’s state oil company) to house its employees, with 646 lots and a minimum area of 500 square meters. ]

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D e v e l o p m e n t

CITIES ON THE MOVE Written by Zaccaria Junior | Photos by Holanda Cavalcanti

Mobility and the themes related to this major challenge in contemporary urban centers is a common topic in today’s society, in its wide range of communication channels, whether in bank or movie lines, classrooms, the workplace or on social networks. Despite being at the back of Brazilian people’s minds today, mobility is a topic of world interest. With a population that already exceeds 9 million people, Lima has a mass transport structure that is still under development. The informality of the van and taxi system in the Andean metropolis got an important boost in the last two years: the “Electric Train,” as the local metro system is called. “A city with more than three million inhabitants has a good reason adopt a metro system as a transportation strategy,” argues Carlos Nostre, the Project Director for the Metro de Lima

construction joint venture. “There is no doubt about the need for this form of transportation, given the situation here.” It took 18 months of work to deliver the first section of Line 1 – from developing the engineering to getting the trains up and running. Currently under construction, when it is completed in 2014 the second section of Line 1 will add 10 stations to the 16 in the first section. It will cover a total distance of be 33.9 km (21.5 km in the first section and 12.4 km in the second). To get an idea of the impact the first phase of Line 1 has had on Lima, a trip that previously took two and a half hours by car now takes just 30 minutes on the metro. Carlos Nostre emphasizes that although buses and the metro are supplementary forms of transportation, there is a major advantage to rail travel. “While a metro line can carry 70,000

π Passengers on Lima’s “Electric Train”: making mass transportation more efficient

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π Lima, its heavy traffic and the “Electric Train”: the way out is overhead

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U r b a n

D e v e l o p m e n t

π Carlos Nostre with passenger Aida Huamán and her daughter Oriana: people are friendlier on the metro

people per hour, a bus line transports approximately 20,000 passengers during the same period.” In turn, metro passengers have already noted a change for the better in their everyday lives. “It is much quicker, it’s clean and waiting times are shorter, not to mention the fact that I can provide my daughter a much more civilized environment, as there is a friendliness on the metro that you don’t find in the vans. The same people use both forms of transport but their behavior has changed for the better here on the metro,” commented Aida Huamán, 25, the mother of Oriana, aged 6, in a conversation with the Odebrecht Informa team on the platform at the La Cultura metro station. Social and economic inclusion Ninfa Calle, Municipal Manager of the San Juan de Lurigancho district, the most populous neighborhood in Lima and Peru, with 1.5 million inhabitants, is celebrating the metro’s arrival in her region. “This is a very important moment. We will finally have mass transportation that will make a real contribution to saving time for commuters and enhancing the region,” she observes. Ninfa considers this to be the most important moment in San Juan de Lurigancho’s history and notes that the transportation system will play a

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direct role in helping young people enter the labor market. “It is a revolution,” she comments. “The first section has already brought about a significant change for the people of Lima. And the second section will bring these benefits to San Juan de Lurigancho. A large number of Peruvians from various parts of the country settled in this region when they migrated to Lima. The entire country is represented here, and this new reality will have a direct impact on saving energy, money and time. It is something that will be placed within everyone’s reach. There is a lot of hope; property values are up and the economy has improved.” Easy access to San Juan de Lurigancho and investors’ consequent interest in the region was the subject of a recent article published in a Peruvian newspaper, Gestión, which specializes in business and economics. For the first time in its history, the district will have large shopping mall with state-ofthe-art stores and a movie theater equipped with 4D technology, the second of its kind in the country. “The mall will attract USD 70 million in investments, in addition to the 100 brands which had never considered opening branches in this region before. All you see around here are local residents at the moment. But in the near future we will be seeing


people from other areas of Lima visiting and getting to know our part of town,” Ninfa Calle points out. Road solutions in Cusco Another project with similar aims, this time eliminating bottlenecks in the city of Cusco, a little more than 1,000 kilometers from Lima, got started in August. The city’s beltway project is part of the Urban Development Plan for the province of Cusco and involves rehabilitating 9.5 km of roads connecting the Inter-Oceanic highway in the Angostura neighborhood to Cusco Airport in Agua Buena. The project’s main benefits include saving time and money when transporting products, and increased safety for drivers in the region, as bridges and footbridges will be built and new lighting and traffic signal systems installed.

“The idea for the beltway is closely related to the Inter-Oceanic highway [which links the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans via a connection between Brazil and Peru],” Renato Bortoletti, the Project Director, observes. “Part of the traffic on the Inter-Oceanic highway passes through Cusco, merging with local traffic and producing congestion the city is not prepared to handle.” According to Bortoletti, the city’s Master Plan envisaged the beltway as a solution, and the Regional Government started to develop that project in 2012. The new route will reduce traveling time by 40% while providing access to the airport. “This project is resolving some of the local issues with regard to people’s mobility, but we are doing our best to come up with even more solutions,” Bortoletti explains. ]

π Building the beltway: the project is part of the province of Cusco’s Urban Development Plan

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U r b a n

D e v e l o p m e n t

Ď€ Downtown Buenos Aires: a city whose history is closely linked to its railway lines

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A PASSION RENEWED Written by Cláudio Lovato Filho | Photos by Bruna Romaro

The people of Buenos Aires love their trains, and look back fondly on the days when passenger cars and the city lived side by side in harmony, as if they formed a single graceful whole, like a passionate couple dancing to their favorite tango. Buenos Aires grew alongside its railway lines. There is such a close connection between the city and its trains that in many cases districts are named after railway stations, such as Liniers, Villa Luro, Ramos de Mejía and many others. But although the Argentine capital’s trains have played a major role in a beautiful and rich history, they are not living up to the expectations of their users, who are dissatisfied with the difficulties involved in train travel, including delays, discomfort and safety issues. The passion and poetry of Buenos Aires’s urban rail lines may be a thing of the past, but there is a sense of growing optimism in the city these days. The Argentine government has introduced a program to upgrade the entire national rail service. In the capital, the main line, Sarmiento, which transports 400,000 passengers per day, will undergo extensive changes that will transform not only the railway line itself but the surrounding communities and a large part of the city. The name of this project is Soterramiento Sarmiento, and it has everything to do with restoring the poetry, passion and pleasure that were once part

of the relationship of the people of Buenos Aires with the means of transportation that helped give their city its body and soul. The Sarmiento Line began running in 1857, starting in the area where the Teatro Colón stands today, in the heart of the city, and ending in San José de Flores. A year later, it was extended to Ramos de Mejía. By 1960, it had reached Moreno, in the metropolitan area. After that, the pace of reform and modernization slowed, and the line was in danger of becoming obsolete. The Government of Argentina has put the modernization plan in motion to eliminate that threat. Odebrecht Infraestrutura (Infrastructure) – Latin America is the leader of Consórcio Nuevo Sarmiento (CNS), the joint venture contractor responsible for the project, which also includes Iecsa, Ghella and Comsa. Funded by Brazil’s National Social and Economic Development Bank (BNDES) and the Argentine government, the project will be carried out in three stages. The first, which is now underway, will involve refurbishing a 16.5-km stretch of the line and should be completed by 2018 (see infographic). The project engineering is at an advanced stage, the jobsite has been set up, the drilling equipment is in position and the plant that will make the tunnel segments is getting the finishing touches it needs to begin operations.

π Level crossing at Flores Station: one of the challenges this project will overcome

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U r b a n

D e v e l o p m e n t

SOTERRAMIENTO

Vacuum suction plate (carries tunnel segments to transfer system)

Transfer system (transfers tunnel segments to erector)

Train running normally while construction goes on underground

The benefits of underground construction

Erector (puts segments in position)

Cutting wheel front part of the TBM

Built tunnel

Conveyor belt Removes earth and sends it to the rear of the TBM

“This project will definitively solve the problems of the Sarmiento Line, particularly accidents and inexcusable delays,” says the Argentine Minister of Transport and the Interior, Florencio Randazzo. Several challenges in a single word When asked why the Sarmiento Line is called a “soterramiento,” Rodney Carvalho, the CEO of Odebrecht Infraestrutura – Latin America, smiles. “It means that everything that is on the surface has to be rebuilt underground,” he says. Rodney’s smile is worth a thousand words in this case. A native of Rio de Janeiro, he is well aware of the magnitude of the challenge that lies ahead for him and his teams - on several fronts. “We are committed to sticking to the path of the existing line, so its users can catch their trains in the same places. In other words, the stations are staying put. We will do all kinds of work underground, and the maps and blueprints are very old. There are houses and shops right next to the tracks and stations. We will have to do the work while the existing line is fully operational.” That’s what a “soterramiento” is all about. To overcome the challenge, technology is crucial. The team led by Odebrecht Project Director Henrique Ventura is working with a TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) that is 11.46 m in diameter. It will excavate

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at a depth of 25 m and is already in position. “The plant that makes tunnel segments will start production in the next few months,” says Henrique, referring to the concrete segments that the TBM installs as it excavates the tunnel. The machine will start digging in early 2014. “We will be working on eight fronts at the same time during the first stage of the project, one at each station, with 3,000 people at the peak of

π Sebastián Corvalán (left) and Gustavo Ripoll: open dialogue between the community and the company


TUNNEL DIMENSIONS

11.46m

external diameter

10.40m

internal diameter

15

underground stations will be built

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level crossings will be eliminated

20 m/day

the TBM’s average progress (operating 25 m below ground)

CONSTRUCTION STAGES Moreno

Paso del Rey Merlo

STAGE 1

Haedo - Caballito 16.58 km

Castelar

Caballito Haedo Morón

Liniers Ramos Mejia

S.A. de Padua

STAGE 2

Haedo - Castelar 5.3 km

Once

RIVER PLATE

CITY OF BUENOS AIRES ARGENTINA

STAGE 3

Uruguay

Castelar - Moreno 14.87 km

construction,” says Henrique. Building a project of this magnitude in some of the most densely populated parts of the city will require a carefully planned community relations strategy. “There will be noise and trucks transporting excavated materials. It will take a lot of dialogue,” says Henrique. Gustavo Ripoll, Odebrecht’s Corporate Affairs Manager for this project, is paying close attention to the conversation. He will be directly responsible for relations with the local residents. “The key is to listen to people and provide clear information,” he says. When Gustavo went along with the Odebrecht Informa team to visit Liniers Station, he had a chance to do just that. It was a Thursday morning, and Sebastián Corvalan, 33, an administrative technician at an engineering company, was waiting for his train. Every weekday, he catches the train from Liniers to Flores, and then takes a bus to the Belgrano district, where he works. “The overall situation has to get better," says Sebastián. Curious about the project, he goes on to ask the reporter some technical questions. Gustavo comes to the rescue. Sebastián listens to Gustavo’s explanation about the TBM and responds enthusiastically: “That’s amazing!” At Flores Station, our team got a first-hand look at one of the biggest problems for railway lines in Buenos Aires: level crossings. There are 52 on the

Brazil

Buenos Aires

Sarmiento Line alone, enabling pedestrians and vehicles to cross the railway tracks between passing trains. They are closed, on average, 45 minutes per hour. The result: major holdups and traffic jams. Thanks to the Soterramiento Sarmiento project, those level crossings will disappear. They will be replaced with plazas and sports facilities through a project that is still on the drawing board. “Trains run through the entire city,” says Esteban Klaric, the Head of the Technical Department at CNS. “The Sarmiento Line divides the city from north to south. Thanks to this project, that division will be a thing of the past. The urban area will be consolidated and gain more land and green spaces. Not to mention the reorganization of surface traffic.” Esteban, 41, was born in Azul, in Buenos Aires Province, but has lived in the capital since he was one month old. A student of metropolitan life, he is enthusiastic about the project’s basic premises. “In Buenos Aires, train stations and communities are like flesh and bone. Therefore, this is a surgical operation.” Henrique Ventura observes: “This project will increase the number of passengers because the trains will run more frequently and the system will be more reliable. It could restore the close relationship between the people of Buenos Aires and the Sarmiento Line, and later, with their trains in general.” ]

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D e v e l o p m e n t

MOBILITY ON THE AGENDA Written by Fabiana Cabral | Photo by Ed Araújo

Over 7.4 million vehicles travel the 17,000 km of roads in the megacity of São Paulo. Millions of people spend more time than they would like in traffic jams for much of the day. Since June 2013, Urban Mobility is one of the most hotly debated issues in Brazil. Several cities witnessed demonstrations for better public transport, sparked by a bus fare increase in São Paulo.According to the Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA), the Federal Government’s investments in that area will soar from 2 billion in 2013 to BRL 50 billion over the next four years. The government of São Paulo State will also invest BRL 45 billion by 2015 and São Paulo City will contribute BRL 11.6 billion between 2014 and 2017. Some of the results can already be seen in São Paulo’s state capital. In just seven months, the city has created 243 km of dedicated bus lanes, increasing the average speed of those vehicles from 13 to 25 km/h. The goal is to increase that figure to 300 km by the end of 2013. According to Mayor Fernando Haddad,irresponsible use of passenger cars, which are still the preferred means of transport, is the main obstacle to the effective deployment of public transit.“The problem is not that everyone owns a car but the way they use them,” he said during the opening of the Urban Mobility Forum, held by the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo, on October 9 and 10.

THE CITY CANNOT STOP Initiatives in São Paulo reflect the nation’s search for solutions

7.4 M

vehicles travel 17,000 km of roadways in the city of São Paulo

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The event brought together experts, business leaders and government officials and, was sponsored byOdebrechtTransPort,VolvoandPorteConstrutora. The audience and guest speakers discussed the use of new technologies, mass transit, alternative forms of mobility, and urban development and its impacts on urban mobility. Governor Geraldo Alckmin observed that urban mobility is a challenge for the entire population. According to him, only 11 Brazilian states have trains and subways that carry 9 million people per day. In São Paulo State, the metro and the Paulista Metropolitan Trains Company (CPTM) together serve 7.3 million of that total. “Four new metro lines are currently under construction in the state capital. Expectations are that 102 km will have been completed by 2014,” he noted during the Forum. Ideas, solutions and innovations “We have not followed suitable public transport models since the 1920s. We only began planning the metro in the 1970s,” said Regina Meyer, an architect, urban planner and professor at the University of São Paulo School of Architecture and Urban Planning (FAU-USP). In the opinion of Raquel Rolnik, a Folha de S. Paulo columnist and professor at FAU-USP, three important issues permeate the public transport sector in the

11 Brazilian states have trains and metros that transport 9 million people per day

243 km of exclusive bus lanes created by the city government in recent months

São Paulo

7.3 M

More Federal investments in urban mobility (in BRL)

50 B

9M

TOTAL Other states

1 .7M

2B IN 2013

NEXT 4 YEARS


π Scene from the Forum in São Paulo: debating urban solutions

country: “The first is price, followed by availability and quality.” Architect and urban planner Candido Malta, and Paul Feldmann, a professor at the USP School of Economics, Business Administration and Accounting (FEA-USP), favor congestion pricing (tolls charged for driving on congested urban routes) to encourage people to use public transport in São Paulo. “It’s better than raising fuel prices and metro and bus fares, and it will also generate resources for the sector while reducing traffic jams,” said Malta. Feldmann added: “By levying a BRL 10 congestion charge, the city would bring in additional revenue of BRL 3 billion.” IDELT consultant and former CPTM president Frederico Bussinger expressed optimism by listing the innovations that could reduce the State’s dependence on road transportation: a network of logistics platforms linking waterways, railroads and highways, and a riverbeltway. Rodrigo Carnaúba, the Urban Mobility Director at Odebrecht TransPort, discussed the concept of transportation as an integrated network of different capacities. “One viable solution is the trunk-feed system, made up of several means of transport that are physically linked

in a comfortable, accessible way, with consolidated tolls and charges,” he explained. Carnaúba stressed: “Deploying a new transport system also requires adapting the existing ones.” Odebrecht TransPort is playing an important role in major projects in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. In São Paulo’s state capital, it won the contract to build Line 6 (the Orange Line) of the metro in November 2013. Thanks to an investment of BRL 8.9 billion for construction and operation, Line 6 will consist of 15.5 km of tunnels and 15 stations with capacity to carry 640,000 passengers per day. The company is also a partner in ViaQuatro, the consortium responsible for the operation of Line 4 (the Yellow Line) of the metro, and has acquired Otima, an affiliate that installs and maintains 7,500 new shelters and 14,700 totems at the city’s bus stops. In Rio de Janeiro, Odebrecht TransPort operates SuperVia, a commuter rail company that services 12 municipalities in the metropolitan region. In November it set a record by transporting 644,000 passengers a day. In 2013, Odebrecht TransPort deployed VLT Carioca – Rio’s first Light Rail Vehicle system, linking the city’s docklands with Santos Dumont Airport. ]

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A R G U M E N T

A FULL READING M ello Fred Chalub

k á t i a

UNDERSTANDING THE REALITIES OF A TERRITORY THROUGH DIAGNOSTICS BEFORE BREAKING GROUND MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO UNDERSTAND ITS DYNAMICS

Is it possible to construct a new development paradigm for cities and communities? Yes it is. Major developments and infrastructure facilities make a decisive contribution, and so do agreements betwen public and private agents and communities. Everything should be based on a management plan that serves as a guide for Integrated Territorial Development initiatives. Learning about the realities of a territory through diagnostics before breaking ground for a venture makes it possible to understand the dynamics already in place, and guides more assertive actions which can contribute to the sustainable development of the business and territory. This has been demonstrated by Brazilian experiences such as those of Foz in the state of Tocantins and the metropolitan region of Recife, of Odebrecht Realizações Imobiliárias

(Odebrecht Real Estate Developments) in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, of Vale in several states, and of the State of Pernambuco regarding the Fiat auto complex. Governments need to combine economic growth with social development, while companies must deal with the challenge of instigating Integrated Territorial Development. My experiences at Diagonal show the array of possibilities available for the valuable achievement of a “social permit” in the affected communities. Without a doubt, the methodological paths and practices the company has already built up indicate the importance of an integrated territorial analysis that can show, among many other possibilities, the potential of community cooperation. They also show the tangible and intangible added value of a good management plan, including initiatives that ensure a new territorial development standard, responding to urban, environmental, economic and social challenges, internalizing its positive effects and reducing the development’s risks and contingencies. A valid example from Odebrecht that should be recognized is the work being done at the Capanda Agroindustrial Complex in Angola to identify the potential of cooperation with affected rural communities, acknowledging their social capital and guiding programs that reinforce integrated development combined with social inclusion. ]

Katia Mello is Co-President of Diagonal Transformação de Territórios (Diagonal Territorial Transformation), a company which specializes in social management, and has been an Odebrecht partner for the last 10 years.

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Tetra Pak 速 packaging made from green plastic. Long life for your food and for our planet In an unprecedented initiative, Tetra Pak will begin making all of its packaging in Brazil using Braskem's green plastic, a technology that uses a renewable raw material, sugarcane, and that helps reduce the level of greenhouse gases. The innovation, which began in 2011 with the launch of caps made from green polyethylene, today represents a major advance in the production of 100% renewable packaging. Tetra Pak packaging with layers and caps made from green plastic. A competitive advantage for your product and a boost for our planet. To learn more go to: www.braskem.com/greenplastic www.tetrapak.com

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TEO

"Providing a service means offering a client a unique product that requires more than just active cooperation; it requires a relationship of partnership between the client and the entrepreneur�


I N D U S T R Y

THE STEEL OF HISTORY CSN’S NEW STEEL MILL IN VOLTA REDONDA WILL ENABLE THE COMPANY TO DIVERSIFY ITS BUSINESS

Written by Edilson Lima | Photos from CSN Archives

Just a quick search on the background of Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) is enough to see that its history is closely associated with Brazil’s industrial development. Founded in 1940 and privatized in 1993, the steel company has played a key role in the nation’s growth. To meet the Brazilian market’s growing demand for the steel produced in its plants, CSN has just opened a long steel mill in Volta Redonda, Rio de Janeiro. BuiltbyOdebrechtEngenhariaIndustrial(Industrial Engineering) through an alliance contract, the new plant will enable CSN to diversify its business operations and start producing rebar and wire rod for housing and infrastructure projects.

“The demand for housing and events like the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympics have increased the consumption of long steel in Brazil, which has grown by 7% per year,” says Fernando Cândido, CSN’s General Manager for Operations. The new steel mill can produce up to 400,000 tonnes of rebar and 100,000 tonnes of wire rod per year. Although rebar is chiefly used in the construction industry, wire rod can be utilized by various manufacturing segments, from the production of barbed wire to refrigerator grids, including bolts, nuts and washers. According to Fernando Cândido, the country consumes 26 million tonnes of steel, including 12 million tonnes of long steel,

π CSN’s new long steel mill in Volta Redonda, Brazil: focus on the housing and infrastructure markets

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annually. “We are diversifying to better serve our clients,” he says. An alliance based in the trust CSN faced a huge challenge: building a steel mill of that size in 30 months. Constructed in a 42,000-sq.m area, the unit is divided into five main sections: steelmaking, reheating furnace, rolling mills, a water treatment plant and additional facilities. Odebrecht Project Director Augusto Sancho Montandon explains that the first step was to ensure that CSN and Odebrecht Engenharia Industrial’s teams were on the same page, since the alliance agreement initially called for the two companies to build the project together. Odebrecht took over in early 2011. “Every client has a different culture. So, the first step was to understand how to give them the best possible service,” explains Montandon.

π Inside CSN's new steel mill: the unit is divided into five areas

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Odebrecht Planning Manager Gustavo Carreiro Beyer says that establishing closer relations on a day-to-day basis was fundamental: “You win people over through open and transparent decision making,” he says. Carlos Alexandre Pinto, CSN’s Planning Coordinator, agrees: “We standardized the teams’ procedures and performed weekly analyses and assessments. It was a very positive relationship based on good understanding and high productivity.” Influencing others and be influenced by them were essential practices in the course of construction - for example, using overhead cranes to lift large equipment and transport it to the desired location during electromechanical assembly. “The plant’s foundations are full of tight corners, which made it difficult to get into them and transport large equipment. The use of overhead cranes, which was not including in the initial planning,


was decisive for gaining speed and time,” says Sancho Montandon. “We put [the TEO tenet of] ‘influencing and being influenced’ into practice all the time. In the end, we experienced mutual growth,” emphasizes Construction and Assembly Manager Geovanni Rodriguez. Growth opportunities There was no shortage of growth opportunities. Maycon Alves, 24, started out as a steelfixer at the jobsite after taking the Acreditar (Believe) Ongoing Professional Training Program. He was studying Civil Engineering at the time, but this was his first time on a jobsite. “Coming into direct contact with experienced professionals convinced me that I was on the right track.” Supervisor Atacísio Tenório Marques, 36, took part in the Leadership Development Program. “I couldn’t say what a leader was before [taking the

program]. Now I have a clear idea of the role of leadership in the execution of a project,” he explains. His team member Marcos Paulo Martins Pereira observes with a smile: “I couldn’t even hammer a nail, and today I’m a carpenter and lead a group of 13 people.” Altogether, approximately 2,000 people have gone through the process of professional education. “In addition to offering educational programs, which motivate company members to grow, we introduced the ‘Listening in the Field’ program. The Team Leader directly engaged in dialogue with his teams in the field every week, listening to what they had to say and seeking joint solutions to meet their needs. This program was a differential because it created a harmonious environment and bolstered people’s commitment to doing the work, which was never interrupted by strikes,” says Administrative and Financial Manager Carlos Alberto de Oliveira. ]

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Odebrecht Archives

portugal

and

uae

PARTNER NATIONS ODEBRECHT MARKS 25 YEARS OF OPERATIONS IN PORTUGAL AND 10 IN THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

π Former President Lula speaking to guests at the ceremony marking Odebrecht’s 25th anniversary in Portugal: unified by the production of wealth

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Written by Luciana Lana

At a ceremony that celebrated the 25th anniversary of Odebrecht’s operations in Portuguese territory, former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva observed: “Portugal and Brazil have to establish even closer relations. It is not enough to be sister nations. We must convert that relationship into the generation of wealth, partnership between entrepreneurs and the construction of wages.” These words were like music to the ears of the people who attended the event on October 22 at the National Palace of Ajuda - company members, scholars, politicians, officials and business leaders. They included Economy Minister António Pires de Lima, several Secretaries State, former Prime Minister José Sócrates, Eduardo Catroga and António Mexia, the Chairman and CEO of EDP, and former ministers Miguel Relvas and José Luis Arnaut. Also present were António Mota, from Mota-Engil, Pedro Teixeira Duarte, from Teixeira Duarte, and the CEOs of banks and insurance companies and partners. Odebrecht’s presence in Portugal reflects what President Lula proposed. “The company’s basic principle is working to establish long-term commitments and relationships of mutual trust in order to provide more and better service to the communities of the countries in which it operates,” said Fábio Januário, CEO of Odebrecht Infraestrutura (Infrastructure) in Portugal, Libya and the UAE, in his speech. He concluded by saying: “In Portugal, we have achieved full integration, and locally sourced content is a priority in our business’s supply chain.” Finally, Fábio announced: “As of this milestone of 25 years of history, plus the achievement of full integration, we have decided to base our operations in Portugal exclusively under our ‘Odebrecht’ brand, thereby strengthening our enduring bond with this country and ensuring close alignment with our Group’s global identity strategy.” The ceremony also included a look back at the periods of peak development in the country and Odebrecht’s contributions to Portugal’s growth. Emílio Odebrecht, Pedro Novis, Ernesto Baiardi, Renato Martins and Hilberto Silva Filho, among others, commented on their experiences of working at Odebrecht in Portugal. They recalled that the country had just joined what was then the European Economic Community (EEC) when the Group decided to invest in Portugal – a strategic decision that was made in the context of its ongoing

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Odebrecht Archives

π Vasco da Gama Bridge: a symbol of Odebrecht’s presence in Portugal

internationalization. Odebrecht was already active in Latin America and Africa, and the next step was for the Group to operate in the so-called First World. Favorable economic conditions – the availability of funds for investment in the EEC – came together with a highly opportune acquisition: shaken by the crisis that Portugal had recently faced, Bento Pedroso Construction (BPC), a family business with 35 years of tradition and prestige, became part of Odebrecht. João Rodrigues, who was a member of BPC at the time and is now Odebrecht’s Director of Institutional Relations in Portugal, is one of the people who symbolize the results of that merger. Replete with major milestones - such as the construction of the award-winning Vasco da Gama Bridge, one of the most outstanding works of engineering built in continental Europe - the history of the Odebrecht Group in Portugal is told in the book Tempo de Criar o Futuro (Time to Create the Future), launched during the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of BPC and the 25th anniversary of its merger with Odebrecht. Gifted to guests during the evening ceremony held on October 22, that volume contains beautiful photographs and a history of relations between Portugal and Brazil. Building links In the late 1980s, BPC began actively participating in the process of unifying Portugal by building its main roadways.

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In the early 90s, the idea of building the Vasco da Gama Bridge arose to solve the problem of traffic between the two banks of the River Tagus. The Vasco da Gama Bridge was also the first PublicPrivate Partnership project built in Portugal, a model that subsequently made a number of other major projects in that country possible. The bridge officially opened two months before Expo'98. To prepare for that major international event, Odebrecht also helped build Lisbon’s modern International Station, or Gare do Oriente, a terminal where subway, train and bus lines converge. Other Odebrecht projects in the Portuguese capital represented major engineering challenges. One was the construction of subway tunnels and stations for the Lisbon Metro in the city center, a densely populated area with a large concentration of valuable heritage sites. Odebrecht was also responsible for building the final stretch of the CRIL (Lisbon Beltway), which required the removal of communities and the preservation of a number of buildings, including the Águas Livres Aqueduct, a national heritage site built between 1732 and 1834. Currently, Odebrecht is building the Baixo Sabor Dam in northern Portugal, a project that also involves the work of archaeologists and biologists to ensure the natural and cultural preservation of a pristine region with rare animal and plant species and numerous archaeological sites.


The Sabor Dam and the 450 million cubic meter reservoir it will create will increase the nation’s water storage capacity and double storage capacity on the Douro River, making it possible to optimize energy production in other hydroelectric projects. Before the Baixo Sabor Dam, the company had built the Alqueva Dam, in the Alentejo region - the largest dam in Portugal for irrigation and power generation. With an eye on the near future, Odebrecht is studying opportunities in sectors linked to exports. “Portugal has a very privileged position. Its ports and airports can generate a lot of wealth for the country,” observes Fábio Januário. He adds that a major factor behind Odebrecht’s success in Portugal has been its teams’ assimilation of the Group’s culture through the Odebrecht Entrepreneurial Technology (TEO). In a pioneering initiative in that country, Odebrecht established a close relationship between the job market and academia through the Young Partner Program - identifying and grooming highly qualified professionals who currently work at Group companies worldwide. “In addition to achieving legitimacy by having Portuguese members fully responsible for our operations, we are exporting talent to other countries,” says Fábio Januário.

Guilherme Afonso

United Arab Emirates Another major milestone in 2013 is the 10th anniversary of Odebrecht’s operations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Odebrecht established a base in that Middle Eastern country in 2003 to provide support for the construction of a pier for berthing

and refueling ships in Djibouti (a country on the east coast of Africa) for Dubai Port World (DP World), among other projects. Also in Djibouti and for DP World, Odebrecht has built the Doraleh container terminal, the most advanced facility of its kind in East Africa, which opened two years ago. In the city of Abu Dhabi, in the emirate of the same name (one of the seven that make up the UAE), the company has helped install a new runway for the international airport and is currently building a sewage pumping station. This is a highly complex project requiring extensive excavation - the station will be 100 m deep and 50 m in diameter. Those two measurements make this facility the largest sewage pumping plant in the world. Odebrecht is also responsible for the supply and installation of electromechanical equipment, in addition to the command and control buildings, which will receive sewage from the city of Abu Dhabi and convey it to the treatment plant. The project is part of the Strategic Tunnel Enhancement Programme (STEP), one of the most important and strategic initiatives underway in that country. About 450 people of 24 nationalities are working on the project. Paulo Suffredini, the Project Director, has long experience in the UAE. He observes: “Odebrecht members have adapted to this society more easily because of their respect for its culture, customs and local traditions, and their contribution to the professional education of our teams there.” Odebrecht is currently the leading Latin American player in the Middle East. ]

π Abu Dhabi Pumping Plant, under construction in that United Arab Emirates city: the plant will be 100-m deep

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F O L K S

travel

Born in Cusco, Peru, and a Civil Engineering graduate, Winston Lewis joined Odebrecht in 1981, to work on the Charcani V Hydroelectric Project. Almost 34 years on, he has just delivered the Carhuaz-San Luis Highway in the Ancash region in northwestern Peru. Whenever possible, he likes to travel with his wife, Lilia, and their three children and two grandchildren. “By getting to know other cultures, we learn to understand people and value everything that human beings are capable of,” he observes. For travelers who are passing through Lima, his country’s capital, he recommends the following: anyone who wants to try delicious fish dishes should go to the Barrancas district, which is around 30 km from the city center.

Holanda Cavalcanti

Peruvian delicacies

π Winston Lewis: “By getting to know other cultures, we learn to understand people”

FAMily Leilo Albano

Passion at work

π Adriana and her husband, Paulo: an inspiration for their co-workers

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“It was passion at first sight”, says Adriana Brito, the Odebrecht Social Responsibility coordinator in Mozambique. She met her husband, Paulo Brito, the Odebrecht Project Director on the Moatize Expansion project, when she was 15. Married for 25 years, they have two sons: Ricardo, 23, and Alexandre, 21. While accompanying Paulo in Brazil, Adriana has lived in Salvador, Bahia; Aracaju, Sergipe; Santa Bárbara, Minas Gerais, and Caldas Novas, Goiás. The couple moved to the United States in 2003, where she stayed with the children while Paulo went to work in Liberia. She provided consultancy services to Odebrecht and spent one of her vacations in Liberia. The couple has been living in Tete, Mozambique, since 2011. It is not unusual to see the two of them walking hand in hand. “We have heard a lot of people say that seeing us together inspires a feeling of family in them,” Adriana reveals. “As well as accompanying my husband, at Odebrecht I put the values I believe in and my professional skills into practice.”


ARTS & CULTURE Mário Grisolli

sports

A handy fisherman

Fred Chalub

Richard Cook is the General Manager for the Miami International Airport expansion project in the USA. He grew up in a family of athletes and soccer, basketball and baseball enthusiasts, but he developed a different passion: deep sea sport fishing. His boat, which holds six passengers comfortably, is docked behind his home in one of the several canals that run through Greater Miami. Richard goes out on his boat whenever he can. As some of his neighbors and friends have a similar passion, he decided to hold an annual championship that raises funds for an organization which renovates houses for people in need, called Rebuilding Together. “The participants also pitch in, working on the houses, which is extremely gratifying,” says Richard.

π Kátia Freitas: the gift of enjoyment

The Samba Train

π Richard Cook: sport fishing and solidarity

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Kátia Freitas, the New Business Coordinator at SuperVias, joined the company in 2005. She has always loved samba and Brazilian Popular Music (MPB) in general but now feels like she is living and breathing music. Kátia provides logistical support for an event that has been taking place in Rio for 18 years, organized by Marquinhos Oswaldo Cruz: the Samba Train. Everything started with samba musicians singing in the trains that left Brazil Central Station on December 2, National Samba Day. Fourteen years ago, SuperVia partnered up with Marquinhos Oswaldo Cruz and then went out in search of further partners and sponsors. The event grew. This year, the Samba Train will start with a warm-up at Brazil Central Station, and move on to seven other stages set up in the Oswaldo Cruz district in the North Zone of Rio. “Our aim is to gift our clients and passengers with a week of enjoyment,” says Kátia.

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Y O U T H

A MAGNET FOR INNOVATORS BRASKEM IS ONE OF THE 15 COMPANIES WHERE Brazil's COLLEGE STUDENTS REALLY WANT TO WORK

Written by Luiz Carlos Ramos | Photos by Ricardo Chaves

A survey conducted by the Swedish consultancy firm, Universum, talked to 15,855 Brazilian engineering, business and management, IT and natural science students and found that Braskem is among the 15 most innovative companies in the country – the companies where young people really want to work. One of the reasons for this is that the company encourages young people to innovate. They discover technical solutions that meet their clients’ needs and open up new possibilities for using plastic. Patrick Teyssonneyre, the officer Responsible for Innovation and Technology at Braskem’s Polymer area, is one example: he is 37 years old. “I am a materials engineer and graduated from the Federal University at São Carlos. I joined the company as a trainee and got hired,” says Patrick, who works at the company’s Innovation and Technology Center at the Triunfo Petrochemical Complex in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul. He travels around the world to find information that could help Braskem launch patents and expand its business. In October, he attended Braskem’s First Global Conference on Innovation and Technology in Gravataí, Rio Grande do Sul. He then took part in an in-house seminar to establish Braskem’s long-term technological strategy in São Paulo the following day. The next evening, he went on to the Dusseldorf Fair in Germany, a country where Braskem has industrial units (as well as in the United States). “When Braskem was formed 11 years ago, it was a large Brazilian company. Now it is a global company. We invest in innovation to launch products and add value. We give credit to the young people who

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are prepared to be innovative, using creativity with discipline.” A talent factory Braskem’s Innovation and Technology Center in Triunfo has been open for 10 years and is a veritable talent factory. Rita Sarmento, who holds a Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering and runs the Catalysis Lab, explains: “We seek to develop catalytic systems that serve all of Braskem’s business units. Twelve of our 16 members are under 39 and have advanced degrees.” The officer Responsible for the Innovation Labs, Nercio Hexcel, has 31 years’ experience in petrochemicals at Triunfo. “I have worked with trainees since 1994,” he says. Gabriel Sabença Gusmão, from Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, is 23. A chemical engineer and a graduate of the State University at Campinas (Unicamp), he began working as a trainee on the Renewable Processes program in 2013, and was soon hired as a researcher. “I had a chance to study in the United States but I was attracted by Braskem. I stayed here and I’m learning from my leader.” (See box with statements from other young members of the Triunfo Innovation and Technology Center.) Antonio Morschbacker, Gabriel’s leader, is the officer Responsible for Renewable Technologies at Braskem. He has 24 years’ experience in petrochemicals at the Group and was responsible for the technological development of the “green polyethylene” project at Triunfo. In his analysis: “Gabriel stands out because of his dedication and creativity. We only disagree when it comes to soccer: I support Flamengo and he’s a Vasco fan.” ]


Young people say a few words

1 Members of the Center for Innovation and Technology at the Triunfo Petrochemical Complex in Rio Grande do Sul share their stories and talk about the opportunity afforded them and the experiences they have had. (3) Renata Cardoso 31, from Rio de Janeiro, says: “I came to the South three years ago. I'm happy. My friends come to see me. They want to work here.” (4) Rodrigo Brambilla, 32, is from Rio Grande do Sul and has spent two years at Braskem “I’ve won awards for projects that generated patents.” (5) Maria Angélica Gollmann, 33, from Rio Grande do Sul, says: “I’ve been at Triunfo for three years. I started working in industry after college, and I’ve grown here.” (2) Bárbara Mano, 30, from Indaiatuba, São Paulo, observes: “I’ve been working with polymers since I was a student, and I wanted to do applied research. I moved to the South four years ago, along with my husband, an environmental engineer at another company.” (1) Alexandre di Pintor da Luz, 32, , from São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo, recalls: “In just one trip to the South in 2006, I found Braskem and my wife. They both won me over. As a result, Leonardo was born. He is now 2 and a half years old.”

5

2

3 4

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yout h

CLARITY OF PURPOSE THE BRASKEM IDESA JOINT VENTURE IS ONE OF THE TOP 10 COMPANIES WHERE YOUNG MEXICAN PROFESSIONALS WANT TO WORK Written by Júlio César Soares | Photos by Guilherme Afonso

Jesus Senderos is 25 and was born in the state of Puebla, 150 km from Mexico City. Federico Francisco Santos Sanchez, who is the same age, was born a bit further away: in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, 600 km from the Mexican capital. Jesus faces the daily challenge of working at an office in the Federal District; Federico works in a place where one of the largest petrochemical complexes in the world is under construction. Geographical differences and routines could keep them apart. However, both of them have something in common: they are members of the Braskem Idesa joint venture, which young Mexicans have voted one of the top ten dream companies in the country. Carried out by Cia. de Talentos, the survey questioned more than 6,000 young people aged between 17 and 26, who placed Braskem Idesa in sixth place in the ranking, just behind Pemex (Mexico’s state oil company) and ahead of companies like Apple, Microsoft, the Walt Disney Company and L’Oréal (see box for further details). “Our entry into the Mexican market involved intensive work at universities, in a search for professional young people,” explains Paola Ramos, the People and Organization Coordinator at Braskem Idesa. “The company took part in various university fairs in order for this to take place; to introduce the young professionals’ program and the Odebrecht Entrepreneurial Technology [TEO],” says Eder Garrido, a member of the Internal Communication team. Paola adds: “Our culture was a major differential factor that led young people to choose our company.” Jesus Senderos highlights: “It was an interesting exchange. I was used to a different type of relationship with the leaders at the companies I’ve worked for. There is a direct dialogue here, and we have planned delegation, which gives us more opportunities and responsibilities.” Federico, who works in the Cracker production area (at the plant which transforms ethane into ethylene, which is one of the stages for manufacturing polyethylene), comments: “You see people wearing Braskem

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π Jesus Senderos: youth power at Braskem Idesa


π Ethylene XXI Complex plant under construction: a highly favorable environment for young talent to develop

Idesa’s blue uniforms wherever you go in the city.” And adding to Senderos’ comments on TEO, he says: “It is something new, which I didn’t learn during my university education. The possibilities for individual growth here are immense. Everyone is interested in sharing their knowledge, and we are developing that spirit. We drive our own human development and seek to encourage that development in others.” A Mexican company Braskem Idesa’s story in Mexico began in 2008. “That year, the Government concluded that it was important to attract private enterprise to the petrochemical market,” recollects Cleantho Leite, the company’s Commercial and New Business Development Director. A change in the country’s legislation allowed companies from Mexico and other countries to compete with Pemex in the raw materials market. Braskem partnered up with the Mexican company Idesa in 2010 and formed the joint venture responsible

for the Ethylene XXI Petrochemical Complex, with a USD 4.3 billion investment. “Our work is characterized by synergy,” observes Eduardo Bulgarelli, the Corporate and People & Organization Director at Braskem Idesa. The earthmoving work required to prepare the land for construction was done by Odebrecht Infraestrutura (Odebrecht Infrastructure), and the complex is being built under Odebrecht Engenharia Industrial’s (Odebrecht Industrial Engineering) leadership, in an alliance with Braskem. Now that approximately 53% of the work is done, more than 10,000 members are working on the project. Ninety-nine percent of them are Mexican. Almost 14,000 people will be working here at the project’s peak in 2014. The plants will go online in 2015 and will be entirely operated by Mexican professionals, who are currently undergoing the process of professional education to prepare them for that responsibility. “Braskem Idesa is a Mexican company. We are laying the foundations for ensuring that it is led

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π Young Mexican Partners: from left: Sandra Angélica Cardoso Palmerín, Federico Francisco Santos Sánchez, Pablo Iván Vázquez Torres, André Villanueva Alor, David García Barradas, Cesar Morales Martínez, Diego Alberto Naranjo Salazar and Claudia Patricia Chiñas Culebro

by Mexican members in the future, with the participation of a minimal group of expatriates in strategic positions,” emphasizes Bulgarelli. Educating people Finding specialized workers is one of Braskem Idesa’s greatest challenges in the country. “Approximately 50% of our operators are young people from the Coatzacoalcos and Nanchital region,” explains Labor Relations Superintendent Ferran Vidal. This number is due to educational programs carried out through partnerships with universities located close to the project in Veracruz state. The process is no different in the Mexican capital. “There are no professionals in the Mexican market with the required experience,” explains Paola Ramos. That is why Brazilian members are going to Mexico on a temporary basis to pass on their professional experience. Four thousand people applied to take part in the educational programs for operators and maintenance technicians. Seven hundred and fifty of them were selected for the second phase and, finally, 150 entered the program, which ran for five months. When it is up and running in 2015, the Ethylene XXI project will add one million tonnes of polyethylene to the Mexican market per year. “Even before that, however, it is already giving Mexicans the opportunity to work at a company whose entrepreneurial culture will surely broaden their professional horizons,” says Bulgarelli. ]

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THE DREAM LIST The 20 companies most admired by young people in Mexico:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Unilever Google Coca-Cola Procter & Gamble Pemex Braskem Idesa Volkswagen Coca-Cola Femsa Nestlé Cemex AXA (a French insurance company) L'Oréal Halliburton Apple Microsoft CFE (Federal Electricity Commission) Walt Disney Company Grupo Bimbo Audi British American Tobacco - Mexico


i deas

Written by Emanuella Sombra

PACKAGING FOR PACKAGING Braskem has been expanding its plastic resin portfolio in the shrink film segment, which is used to wrap cans and bottles together into a single package. The innovation is the launch of HD7600, a high-density polyethylene resin (HDPR). The result is a more compact and resistant plastic with better optical properties, compared with similar products, making it easier to visualize the products in the package. Renato Lima, the Leader of the Industrial Films Segment at Braskem, explains that the development of the new resin resulted from market demand. The HD7600 family was conceived after 10 months of research and has been on the market since June. “It is produced at the company’s units in Rio de Janeiro [HD7600-U] and Bahia [HD7600-M]. This provides us with a competitive advantage, as client delivery time is reduced, depending on their region.”

SPEED AND SAVINGS

GREEN ENGINEERING

During construction of the Rio de Janeiro Petrochemical Complex (Comperj), carried out by Odebrecht Engenharia Industrial (Odebrecht Industrial Engineering – a TUC joint venture partner), the automation of the pipe factory boosted project productivity. This is because it reduced the use of manual machinery, making the process faster and more efficient. Another advantage of automation is that residues are not released into the atmosphere, resulting in improved worker safety.

Good ideas have been helping to develop the perfect pitch at the Corinthians Arena, the venue for the opening of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, which Odebrecht Infraestrutura (Odebrecht Infrastructure) is building in São Paulo. The first step is the sub-structure, which is equipped with a drainage and suction system for rainy days. Slender plastic tubes carrying cold water have been placed among the roots and are essential for keeping the grass healthy on hot days. Finally, grafting artificial blades among the natural grass is making for thicker and more resistant turf.

Odebrecht informa

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I N T E R V I E W

SEEDING THE FUTURE ONE HANDFUL AT A TIME CARLOS MATHIAS, FROM ODEBRECHT AGROINDUSTRIAL Written by Boécio Vidal Lannes | Photos by Edu Simões

Carlos Mathias, Odebrecht Agroindustrial’s Executive Director on the Companhia de Bioenergia de Angola (Biocom), Project, joined the Group 35 years ago and has worked in Africa for two decades. An engineer and graduate of Gama Filho University in Rio de Janeiro, he arrived in Angola in 1988 to take part in the construction of the Capanda Dam on the Kwanza River. In this interview, he speaks of the experience of heading the installation of an agroindustrial plant of enormous importance to Angola, highlighting the significance of this international operation for Odebrecht and involvement with the communities, and analyzes the socioeconomic situation in his adopted country.

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ππWhat are your perceptions and recollections of your first years in Angola? I arrived here in 1988, when there were armed conflicts in the countryside, it was very hard to travel anywhere and food was scarce. We came here to build the Capanda hydroelectric power plant and lived in accommodations at Vila do Gamek in Luanda. It had a school and health center, and was a self-sufficient community. The first peace agreement was signed in 1991 but, unfortunately, it didn’t work out. There were no infrastructure investments. A definitive peace agreement was signed in 2002. After that, the country experienced a fantastic leap forward and grew by 12% per year in 2006, which is the same level as China. ππWhat stage is the Biocom Project at now? It is the largest private investment in the country outside the oil industry. Biocom will start producing sugar and ethanol from sugarcane, and energy by burning sugarcane bagasse in 2014. It is the result of a partnership between Sonangol, the Angolan state oil company, with a 20% share, the Angolan group, Damer, with 40%, and Odebrecht, with the remaining 40%. A total of USD 750 million is being invested in the project, which will produce 2.2 million tonnes of sugarcane. That, in turn, will result in production of 256,000 tonnes of sugar and 23 million liters of ethanol, as well as generating 170 GWh of energy per year, which will be made available on the local power grid.

and to keep contributing to the country’s reconstruction and development. At the end of a presentation to the Vice President of Angola, Manuel Domingos Vicente, recently, I showed a photo of two 12-year-olds, which illustrates this very well. The two of them took a sticker and turned it into identity badges, as if they were Biocom members. That is what makes us proud and simultaneously entrusts us with a major responsibility, when we see these young people’s desire to become part of the Biocom family. With this in mind, I decided to keep an eye on those boys as they grow up, because they could be working with us in six years’ time. ππAnd what is your life like in Angola when you are not working? My family and I like going to the beach, traveling around Angola and spending time with friends. We feel at home in Angola, perhaps because my wife and my two children with her, Tiago and Renata, are Angolan. Apart from that, I am enjoying a particularly happy time because Rafael Mathias, my son from my first marriage, who works at Odebrecht in Angola, is bringing his family here, which will mean that I can spend more time with him and my granddaughters. ]

ππWhat are the expectations? Our forecast is to plant 34,000 hectares by 2018, the year we will reach full capacity. In any case, we have set aside 8,000 hectares as a native preserve. We are going to produce energy by burning sugarcane, which is cheaper and cleaner than diesel. We also have the option of exporting surplus ethanol and sugar to the United States and Europe, because Angola is exempt from tariffs. ππWhat sort of social and economic impact will Biocom have on Angola? It is a 40- to 50-year project. We are located in a community in the Cacuso region, which has almost 100,000 inhabitants. We are offering direct job opportunities to 2,500 people and to more than 12,000 people indirectly. That is almost 20% of the population. We run illiteracy eradication and community development programs there, which always respect local values. A young boy who is 10 years old today will very probably grow up to become a company member. ππAfter so many years at the head of large projects and so many stories, how do you feel? Are you still passionate about your job? Yes, without a doubt. I am very proud to have contributed

Biocom The largest private investment in the country outside the oil industry, Companhia de Bioenergia de Angola (Angolan Bioenergy Company Biocom) will start producing sugar and ethanol from sugarcane and generating energy by burning sugarcane bagasse in 2014. Located in Malanje Province, which is 400 km from the nation’s capital, Luanda, Biocom will provide job opportunities for 2,500 people. By 2018, it will be producing 2.2 million tonnes of sugarcane, which will be planted in a 34,000-hectare area, and supplying 256,000 tonnes of sugar and 23 million liters of ethanol. Furthermore, the company will generate approximately 170 GWh/year of energy, which will be made available on the local power grid.

Odebrecht informa

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peru

π Construction work in progress in the Port of Callao: more environmental preservation and fewer traffic snarls

THE CALLAO FACTOR THE MINERAL PIER PROJECT SYMBOLIZES THE MODERNIZATION OF PERU’S PORT SECTOR

Written by Zaccaria Junior | Photos by Holanda Cavalcanti

Since becoming one of the main mineral exporters in the world in less than ten years, Peru has been investing more intensively in modernizing its port infrastructure to boost exports of those raw materials. One of the criteria placed as a goal was contributing to the efficient transfer of commodities within the port zones, focusing on preserving the environment and quality of life for the communities based around these major projects. This program resulted in the project to build a consolidated reception, storage and transport system at the Port of Matarani on Islay Bay, Arequipa, which recently broke ground. The Matarani Project is strategic for the nation’s important southern port, and will include

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the same technology applied at the Mineral Pier, in the Port of Callao, where Odebrecht Infraestrutura (Odebrecht Infrastructure) is carrying out the final stages of construction (see infographic). Igor Cruz, the Project Director for Odebrecht Infraestrutura Port Projects, uses the Mineral Pier project as an example when explaining the importance of change in the sector. Developed in the Port of Callao, 15 km from Lima, the Peruvian capital, the system is 3.2 km in length and includes a tubular conveyor system responsible for taking mineral concentrate from the Open Access point (located between the existing concentrate warehouses) to the pier. This process is key to controlling the risk of contamination


MODERN PORTS

Mineral concentrate reaches the warehouses by train and truck, and is unloaded at one of four facilities, each able to move up to 350 tonnes per hour (TPH). > Open Access uses tubular conveyor systems as far as the distribution galleries. > At the pier, inside the distribution gallery, the concentrate is transported on tripper conveyors.

Peru, one of the world’s leading mineral exporters, is investing in retrofitting and upgrading its ports to boost productivity and improve environmental preservation. The Mineral Pier project, underway at the Port of Callao, 15 km from Lima, is a major milestone in this new era of modernization for the nation’s port infrastructure.

3.2 km

long, 400mm in diameter and made up of 112 galleries

18,120

130 ,000

truck trips eliminated annually

2,300 TPH capacity (currently 800 TPH)

rollers installed

Tubular conveyor system Responsible for moving mineral concentrate from the Open Access point (the area near the warehouses) to the pier.

400mm

PERU Lima

BRASIL

PORT OF CALLAO

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π Dayana Ruiz: studying and training hard

when transporting these products. “We export minerals such as lead, copper and zinc here, and the utmost attention is required when moving them.” The project will also eliminate the need for trucks in the Callao region, eliminating 130,000 trips per year and their consequences: noise pollution, CO2 emissions and the disruption caused by the movement of heavy vehicles. According to Igor Cruz, the Peruvian Government had already been working with private companies to study a solution that could reduce contamination (the result of mineral extraction) by nearly 100% in the area. “With these tubular systems, added to the expansion of the warehouses, which are being constructed in parallel, we will eradicate contamination in the area. This project has been awaited for more than 40 years. The export of minerals from the central mining region of Peru is performed by the Port of Callao, which is located in a densely populated area and is practically within the Peruvian capital.” In addition to being safer for the community and the environment, retrofitting and upgrading these port systems will allow for the transport of 2,300 tonnes per hour (TPH) of minerals, so the port can meet the growing demand for exports of these raw materials. To get an idea of the quantum leap that will represent, capacity is under 800 TPH, and the lack of a safe transport system for these materials means that the wind carries contaminated particles into nearby communities.

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A woman’s touch Introduced at the Mineral Pier Project, the Women of Steel Program provides technical training for female workers who live within the project’s sphere of influence. The participants began their careers at the company after taking this course and were responsible for an important stage in the project. The women formed a team in charge of assembling and installing 18,120 rollers, in addition to laying floors and attaching the side walls of 112 galleries along the 3.2 km stretch. Dayana Ruiz, 20, was hired to work on the project when she was 19. She found out about the opportunity through her father, who was working in Callao. “My father came home one day and commented that they were hiring women. I decided to apply. I took the training courses and listened to the engineers’ advice on how we could grow as people and professionals,” says Dayana, the mother of a one-year-old boy named Lionel. “Things changed a lot. My life turned upside down for the better in the last year. I had a baby and started working on the project,” observes the young woman, who is currently a machine operator. However, according to Dayana, what she really enjoys in the world of construction sites is the machinery. “I like all types of machines, and now I’m really making an effort to study and train to become a crane operator.” ]


Our readers recommend Odebrecht Informa An in-house survey on Odebrecht Informa was one of the initiatives the magazine a carried out on its 40th anniversary . When asked their overall opinion of the magazine, readers of the Portuguese edition answered: Excellent – 33% Very good - 44% Good - 20% Fair – 3%

The full questionnaire for the survey, with all the questions and answers, is available on the magazine's website (www.odebrechtinforma.com.br).


S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y

A TOOL FOR ACHIEVING DREAMS

π From left, Sandoval Santos, Jailton Ribeiro, Adriano Santos, Edvan Alcântara, Benivaldo Santos and Ednei Lima,

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Written by Gabriela Vasconcellos | Photos by Fernando Vivas

A PARTNERSHIP IN THE SOUTHERN BAHIA LOWLANDS CREATES A FUND THAT PROVIDES DECISIVE SUPPORT FOR SMALL FARMERS

Seven rural entrepreneurs who want to stay in the countryside are writing their own life stories in Presidente Tancredo Neves, Bahia. They have chosen to make farming their business and decided to stay in their hometowns, near their families. To do so, they are working hard and seeking sustainability, every day, with every crop they plant. They are all alumni of the Presidente Tancredo Neves Rural Family House (CFR-PTN) - a unit that offers technical professional education in agriculture, integrated with the regular high school curriculum. After graduating from the three-year program at the CFR-PTN, where they learned about business administration, cooperatives, and soil and crop management, they faced a challenge - developing and growing productively. After all, they also had something else in common: a lack of land. “My family’s farm is small, and by the time I graduated, I had already used every hectare available. I needed more land to plant,” explains Sandoval Santos, 26, a resident of the Serra da Bananeira community. A way to turn this situation around is already in sight: the Land Access Fund (Portuguese acronym: FAT). This initiative was created by the CFR-PTN in partnership with the Rural Producers’ Cooperative of Presidente Tancredo Neves (Coopatan) - institutions linked to the Development and Integrated Growth Program with Sustainability for the Southern Bahia Lowlands Environmental Protection Areas Mosaic (PDCIS), backed by the Odebrecht Foundation and public and private partners. “We saw that each youth had, on average, just five hectares to plant, which does not guarantee sustainable production, and that was influencing them to go to the big cities,” says Juscelino Macedo, the Leader of the Cassava and Fruit Growing Business. The FAT is a mechanism that aims to provide financial aid to former students of the CFR-PTN who have joined Coopatan, can take care of their own farming projects and can live exclusively and entirely on income generated in the countryside. The resources that enabled the acquisition of 138 hectares, divided among the selected farmers, were contributed through the Cooperative with the support of the Odebrecht Foundation. “These seven young people had a history of outstanding academic achievement. They stand out from the rest for their experience and dedication. It was they who chose us and embraced the challenge of taking on this pilot project,” points out José Neto, the coordinator of the Fund and a CFR-PTN monitor.

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π Marcelo Roma is one of the young men who have joined the Eliane Oliveira Farm Condominium

Discipline and ethical values Edvan Alcantara, 23, is one of the participants and believes that it is possible to change the course of his life. “By taking what I’ve learned and putting it into practice, I have been able to go further than I ever dreamed,” says the resident of the Alto da Prata community. Benivaldo Santos, 26, from Ouro Preto, feels the same way. “Today I’m a role model in these parts, and I owe it all to the discipline and ethical values that I’ve learned.” Farmers who use FAT funds have a one-year grace period to start paying for the land and up to 10 years to repay the full amount, which will be used to help other young people in the region buy farmland. Sandoval is also a Fund participant. Previously, he worked as a day laborer on other people’s farms. Now he is bringing in partners and paying them for their work. “There were lots of hurdles, and the lack of profitability has always been a challenge, but planting in larger areas is feasible. I believe that I can make a living in the countryside,” adds the young rural entrepreneur. Like him, Adriano Santos, a resident of Ouro Preto, is putting his chips on the FAT. “My income has grown. Every month, I have a net profit of about BRL 1,800.00 and it's likely to grow even more. In the future, I intend to purchase another property and keep planting more crops,” says the 25-year-old farmer, who is also an assistant teacher at Coopatan, which enables him to share his knowledge with the community. “We want to show that there is no point in being prejudiced against farmers. We drive the

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city; drive the world,” says Marcelo Roma, 23, who also accepted the challenge of taking out a loan from the FAT and lives in the Gendiba community. He grows cassava, pineapples and bananas, and he and other young people sell their crops through the cooperative. “We used to work hard, but at harvest time, we’d lose money, because there was no one to sell to. Now we have buyers for our produce,” says Ednei Lima, 19, who lives in Ouro Preto and also participates in the FAT. Through Coopatan, they also get help in accessing rural credit lines, such as the National Program for Strengthening Family Farming (PRONAF), via the Bank of Brazil. In addition to financing crops, that program also helps farmers purchase agricultural equipment. Jailton Ribeiro, 22, also a resident of Ouro Preto, bought a tractor that is not only boosting productivity on his own farm but on those of all the young people aided by the FAT. “I didn’t even have enough money to invest in a bicycle. I got the loan and bought a piece of equipment that makes all the difference in farming. I also rent it out to other farmers, which brings in even more income,” he says. “I’m starting to see my dreams come true,” he adds. The farmland acquired to start the FAT was named the Eliane Oliveira Agricultural Condominium, a tribute to a young woman who, at 21, was the first president of Coopatan and died in an accident in 2011. “She made her mark in the struggle for the young people of Brazil. Her motto was ‘access to land for rural youth,’” says Juscelino Macedo. Eliane’s story is an inspiration. ]


Our family of Jabuti awards is growing For the fifth time, a winner of the Odebrecht Historical Research – Clarival do Prado Valladares Prize has won the Jabuti Prize, bestowed by the

Odebrecht Historical Research – Clarival do Prado Valladares Prize winners that have received the Jabuti Prize: 2009 Friar Vicente do Salvador’s History of Brazil

by Maria Lêda Oliveira Graphic design by Karyn Mathuiy

Brazilian Book Council and considered the most prestigious honor in Brazil’s publishing world.

2010

Franciscan Church and Convent of Bahia, organized by Friar Hugo Fragoso and Maria Helena Flexor Graphic design by Carina Flexor and Renata Kalid

In 2013 The Sugar Trade: Brazil, Portugal

2011

Theodoro Sampaio: In the Backlands and the Cities, (a Jabuti winner in two categories: Architecture and Construction, and Graphic Design) Graphic design by Karyn Mathuiy

2013

The Sugar Trade: Brazil, Portugal and the Netherlands (1595-1630), by Daniel Strum Graphic design by Eduardo Vilas Boas

and the Netherlands (1595-1630), by Daniel Strum, won second prize for Best Graphic Design of the Year.


C O M M U N I T Y

WELL-TENDED DIALOGUE COMMUNITY RELATIONS WITH THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE NEAR THE ETHYLENE XXI PROJECT INCLUDE CREATING JOBS AND PLANTING TREES

π Francisco Javier Rueda on the Benjamín Ranch: soil deposited during earthmoving has become a field for planting trees typical of the region

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Written by Júlio César Soares | Photo by Guilherme Afonso

Pollo de Oro’s colorful houses, the blue church, a row of stores where we can quench our thirst in this hot tropical region, and unpaved streets are our first glimpse of this village in Nanchital in the southeast Mexican state of Veracruz. The Community Center at the entrance to town gives us a warm welcome. About 200 people live there, just over a kilometer from the Ethylene XXI Project. Maria Elena Martinez, 43, is a housewife and the mother of a 14-year-old girl. According to her, the arrival of the project has changed the lives of everyone in the village. “This community had been forgotten. Now I’ve learned new skills and I know how to take care of the place where I live,” she says. Maria is a woman of all trades. “Here I’ve learned everything: to be a manicurist, and make backpacks and wallets. Not only that but I can work in my community and add to my family’s income,” she explains. The skills she has learned go beyond handicrafts. “I’ve also learned to preserve the environment by properly disposing of the trash we produce, and that is important for future generations.” There are twelve communities in the vicinity of the project, with a total population of 230,000 people. “Our biggest challenge was to communicate who we are,” says Antonio Galvão, the officer Responsible for Sustainability at Braskem Idesa. To do so, they used special phone numbers, websites, newspaper ads and radio and visits from members working on the project. “But without a doubt, the suggestion boxes are the communities’ preferred means of

π Seated, from left, Esmeralda Rodríguez, Beatriz Jiménez and Maria Elena Martínez, residents of the Pollo de Oro community, with Braskem Idesa members Martha Beatriz Bartolo and Cecília Lormendez (standing, from left): respect, interaction and support

communication,” notes Social Responsibility Analyst Cecília Lormendez, who works directly with the communities. The suggestion boxes are placed in the communities closest to the jobsite, and receive the largest number of complaints, requests and compliments on Braskem Idesa’s performance. “We follow up on everything, and set time goals for responding and finding solutions,” says Antonio Galvão. Prehistoric plants One of the high points of Braskem Idesa’s relationship with the community so far was achieved through a tree planting initiative. Braskem Idesa purchased the 200-hectare Benjamín Ranch when it broke ground for the Ethylene XXI Project in 2012. Initially, Odebrecht Infraestrutura (Infrastructure) used the site to store materials when that company was doing the earthmoving for the project. Today, it is a field used to plant trees commonly found in that region. “What we had here was a kind of pastureland, with few of the nutrients required for planting,” recalls Braskem Idesa Environment Coordinator Francisco Javier Rueda. To study the soil, the joint venture hired two companies specialized in forestry, which discovered 350 Ceratozamia miqueliana plants, an endangered species endemic to southeastern Mexico. These plants, which have grown in that area since prehistoric times, have suffered an alarming 95% loss rate, according to studies conducted in 2010 and published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). About 30 hectares of the Benjamín Ranch are environmental reserves that will be preserved. Local plants can grow in that area. “We are faced with an unusual situation: with 350 plants, by the end of the project we will be able to increase the number of Ceratozamia miqueliana in the region as much as fivefold,” says Antonio Galvão. The participation of people from nearby communities in the tree planting project was fundamental to its success. On World Environment Day, held on June 5, 400 volunteers, including company members and local residents, came together to transform the pastureland on the Bejamín Ranch into a “jungle.”“With the help of those people we planted 54 hectares, and our goal is to plant 50 hectares per year,” says Francisco Rueda. Diana Laura Flores Lopes, 19, had never planted a seedling in her life, and now she knows what will happen when she passes by the forested area. “I know where the seedlings I planted are growing, and I know I’ll be thrilled whenever I catch sight of them.” ]

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PROFESSION:

S E R VI C E

THE DELIGHTS OF DISCOVERY HIS DREAM OF BECOMING A PROFESSIONAL SOCCER PLAYER GAVE WAY TO HIS PASSION FOR WELDING Written by Alice Galeffi | Photo by Ricardo Artner

v i cente

de

paulo

Vicente de Paulo Almeida began his career doing a job that has absolutely nothing to do with welding, the trade he has plied for more than 30 years. Born and raised in the rural region of Barbacena, Minas Gerais, he finished high school and moved to Volta Redonda, Rio de Janeiro, to become a professional soccer player. However, an accident ended his career on the pitch, and a friend got him a job in industry in São José dos Campos, São Paulo. “That’s when I started welding. I got to like it and that is what I have been doing ever since. I’ve been working on projects for 33 years,” says Vicente. Seeking to gain a better understanding of specialized professionals’ daily lives at the Odebrecht Group, the video series Profissão Servir (Profession: Service) closely followed a typical day in Vicente’s life and shows how he is helping build

alme i da

Platform P-74 at the Inhaúma Shipyard, a unit of the Enseada do Paraguaçu Shipyard in Rio de Janeiro City. He arrives at 6:50 am. After checking his emails, he goes to the welding sector and gets to work. He goes out into the field at around 9:30 am, to supervise the welders’ work. He visits the work fronts and the workshop where the modules and metal sheets which will be installed on the platform are manufactured. Vicente explains: “What I really like is being here, in contact with people.” Everyone greets him with a smile. Speaking about his profession, he confesses: “I’m proud of what I do, because I do it really well. I’d like to see someone who is better than me come along tomorrow, and I will definitely find them.” With regards to his team, which is almost entirely made up of young people, he observes: “I like teaching these youngsters. They have a tremendous desire to learn.” ]

See Vicente de Paulo’s full interview for the Profession: Service video series on the Odebrecht Informa website at www.odebrechtonline.com.br/videos

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Entrepreneurial Technology is published.

The books written by Norberto Odebrecht can now be read in your computer, tablet or smartphone. Sobreviver, Crescer e Perpetuar, in Portuguese. To purchase and download the publication, visit: www.fundacaoodebrecht.org.br/Programas/Editorial/ Enjoy your reading! Odebrecht informa

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C O M M U N I C A T I O N

PAGES THAT AFFIRM AN IDENTITY AS ODEBRECHT INFORMA MARKS ITS 40TH ANNIVERSARY IT IS RENEWING ITS ROLE AS A LINK BETWEEN THE GROUP’S MEMBERS

Written by José Enrique Barreiro | Photos by Almir Bindilatti

The cover photo of issue #1 of Odebrecht Informa, published in October 1973, shows the Petrobras Building in Rio de Janeiro. Construtora Norberto Odebrecht had broken ground for the project in 1969, and the state-owned oil giant’s main headquarters building was nearing completion. It was the construction company’s first project in southeastern Brazil. That picture reveals the historical destiny of the publication that was born that same year: showcasing Odebrecht teams’ most important achievements in its pages. Over the course of four decades, the magazine that marked its 40th anniversary in October 2013 has always sought to fulfill its original mission and go even further. During that period, it has transformed and reinvented itself, adapting to the Group’s needs and changes in communications and the global business environment. Primarily, it has reaffirmed that one of its main objectives is to serve as a link between the organization’s members - and between them and the people they interact with - and help communicate all the ways the Odebrecht Entrepreneurial Technology (TEO) is put into practice. To commemorate the magazine’s first 40 years, we listened to some of the Group’s members, who, each in their own way, answered this question: “How has Odebrecht Informa contributed to my work and my personal growth?” We will ask more Odebrecht members the same question in the upcoming issues. Gathering and publishing the words of our readers seemed the best way to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Odebrecht Group’s oldest publication.

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A word from our readers André Vital CEO OF ODEBRECHT INFRAESTRUTURA BRAZIL IN THE STATES OF BAHIA AND SERGIPE “Odebrecht Informa magazine is an icon of the Group. For four decades, it has fulfilled its mission of sharing information with members and partners about the most important achievements of the organization’s teams around the world. At the same time it helps build a positive image of the organization, functions as an important almanac of projects, people and their stories, told with zeal and dedication in each new issue. Above all, it gives transparency to the company’s operations, forging relationships of trust in the communities in which we are present.”

Antonio Carlos Daiha Blando CEO OF ODEBRECHT INFRASTRUCTURE IN ANGOLA, AFRICA, PORTUGAL AND UAE “Through Odebrecht Informa, we can learn about our achievements around the world, in the many countries where we operate. Partners and clients become aware of our work, our calling of service, the wealth generated by the Group’s companies. Technologies, innovations and applications of knowledge are disseminated in that publication. Odebrecht Informa is an opinion molder. What’s more, it also gives me a chance to catch up on colleagues and see how they are doing, and read about their action programs. The magazine unites us, brings us closer together, shortens distances, communicates, increases synergy, makes us proud to belong to Odebrecht.”


“THE MAGAZINE UNITES US, BRINGS US CLOSER TOGETHER, SHORTENS DISTANCES, COMMUNICATES, INCREASES SYNERGY, MAKES US PROUD TO BELONG TO ODEBRECHT.”

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Danilo Abdanur PRODUCTION MANAGER OF THE LOS TEQUES METRO, VENEZUELA, AND LEADER OF THE RAIL TRANSPORT KNOWLEDGE COMMUNITY “Early in my career in the organization, I felt really proud and motivated when I read the magazine and saw features on projects I was involved in. That is still true today, but when you’re a young engineer, it boosts the feeling that you are helping to achieve something, even in a small way. Then comes that phase when you want to grow, to understand the company better, to become an even closer part of the organization, to become aware of all the projects we are building around the world, who the people are, who the leaders are. And for me the magazine is and always has been an excellent way of leveling the playing field when it comes to information. Our Group is huge, and decentralization is one of its main tenets, so I believe that is where Odebrecht Informa plays a very important role. Even today, when I read the magazine, it always moves me. I can catch up on the activities of colleagues I’ve worked with during my 30 years in the Group, read their statements, life lessons and learnings attentively, find out where they are, what their current action programs are. It’s always a pleasure!” Genésio Lemos Couto RESPONSIBLE FOR PEOPLE & ORGANIZATION, SUSTAINABILITY AND COMMUNICATION AT ODEBRECHT AGROINDUSTRIAL “Once my first day of work at Odebrecht had been set, I left the final interview with a batch of materials for immersive reading, including Odebrecht Informa. I don’t remember what I read in that issue, but I clearly recall that it was the first thing I wanted to read, because of its illustrative approach to achievements, and who made them - the Group’s members. I dreamed of seeing an achievement of my own in those pages one day. That made me even more determined to succeed and contribute to the communities, people, the Group and my own development at Odebrecht. Today, 25 years later, I can say it again: Odebrecht Informa is an important vector for integration, engagement and the minimization of cultural differences.” Gilberto Neves CEO OF ODEBRECHT ENGENHARIA INDUSTRIAL IN THE UNITED STATES “With the rapid growth of our organization, operating today in various different segments, different countries, different cultures, different languages, Odebrecht Informa has become the natural link between members of the organization. It has become a fundamental tool, used by our members to learn about our operations, learn from other projects and other challenges. It has become a great way for our members to be inspired by others. I must congratulate the organization and the individuals responsible for Odebrecht Informa for the professionalism and the quality of the articles.”

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Jorge Alexandre Oliveira Alves da Silva RESPONSIBLE FOR MARKET DEVELOPMENT AT BRASKEM’S POLYMERS UNIT “We are part of a large business group with thousands of members around the world. That makes communicating and sharing experiences, ideas and solutions something of a challenge. Especially for us, since we develop Braskem’s polymers for construction and infrastructure in partnership with our clients, it is essential to have an efficient channel of communication with the future users of these solutions within the organization. It is in this scenario that Odebrecht Informa magazine ably carries out its role of communicating in-house business opportunities, enabling cross-cutting synergies that contribute to the creation of wealth and value within the Group.”

Paulo Mesquita Freire ACCOUNT MANAGER AT BRASKEM'S VINYLS BUSINESS “Odebrecht Informa is a communication link between the people in the organization. The magazine also enables me to get current information about other companies in our Group. We are constantly developing new products that use PVC resin as a raw material, mainly for the construction industry. Through the magazine, we publicized the use of PVC tiles at 37 schools built by Odebrecht Infraestrutura in Belo Horizonte, which resulted in an example of cross-cutting operations among our companies.”

Paulo Suffredini PROJECT DIRECTOR IN THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES “More than three decades after I joined the Group, our horizons for diversifying our businesses and areas have expanded so far that today it is virtually impossible to keep up with ‘who we are, where we are, and what we do’ through informal contacts between co-workers. Odebrecht Informa plays the role of consolidating important news and providing entrepreneur-partners with the timely information they need in their quest to satisfy their clients by offering them integrated solutions.” ]

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L A S T

W O R D

CONFIRMATION WE’RE ON THE RIGHT TRACK JORGE SOTO, RESPONSIBLE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AT BRASKEM Braskem has been listed on the IBMF/Bovespa Corporate Sustainability Index (ISE) since 2005 and the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) since 2012. The company recently received an award for its environmental practices from Exame and Época magazines, and is the only Brazilian company to have received the highest rating for its Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). The officer Responsible for Sustainable Development at Braskem, Jorge Soto, explains what this recognition means for the company and its clients. Written by Elea Almeida | Photo by Marcelo Arruda

ππWhat are the conceptual premises for Braskem’s social and environmental programs? The Odebrecht Entrepreneurial Technology (TEO) guides our operations, especially when it comes to perpetuity, which presupposes longterm relationships and foreseeing risks. Sustainability is the only way of guaranteeing the perpetuity of our society. We seek to satisfy our clients with products and services that are increasingly responsible. An example of this was the development of “green” polyethylene, which has brought us international recognition. ππHow are these efforts placed and seen within the business community? An increasing number of companies and opinion-makers recognize the importance of Braskem’s contribution to sustainability. Braskem’s presence in the ISE, DJISI and CDP is a good example of this. Braskem’s

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leadership on the Brazilian Global Pact Committee is another example. The Brazilian Global Pact network is the fourth largest in the world, with more than 550 signatory organizations. ππWhat does Braskem’s presence in all these indexes and awards mean? We are seen as a company with principles and long-term goals associated with sustainability. Each index evaluates Braskem under a different magnifying glass and we stand out from the rest. This means that our chosen path of expanding Braskem’s contribution to social and environmental issues is the right one, and helps with external and internal relationships, increasing the company’s positive exposure. ππWhat are the next steps? We are working with other companies to launch a movement to adopt a way of thinking based on the “life

cycle” of products and services. People need to see what takes place throughout a product’s life cycle so they can make better choices. A lot of people look at plastic and forget the benefits that it brings, both in the production phase and for use. It is important to have this broader outlook. Another challenge is the constant search for investments, in which the social and environmental benefits go hand-in-hand with the economic benefits. They are complementary and not exclusionary. ]


The Odebrecht Group is made up of: Businesses Odebrecht Engenharia Industrial Odebrecht Infraestrutura – Brazil Odebrecht Infraestrutura – Africa, Emirates and Portugal Odebrecht Infraestrutura – Latin America Odebrecht Realizações Imobiliárias Odebrecht Ambiental Odebrecht Latinvest Odebrecht Óleo e Gás Odebrecht Properties Odebrecht TransPort Braskem Estaleiro Enseada do Paraguaçu Odebrecht Agroindustrial Odebrecht Defesa e Tecnologia Investments Odebrecht Energias Brasil Africa Fund Latin Fund Support Companies Odebrecht Comercializadora de Energia Odebrecht Corretora de Seguros Odebrecht Previdência Odebrecht Engenharia de Projetos Olex Social Program Odebrecht Foundation

RESPONSIBLE FOR COMMUNICATION AT ODEBRECHT S.A. Márcio Polidoro RESPONSIBLE FOR PUBLISHING PROGRAMS AT ODEBRECHT S.A. Karolina Gutiez

EDITORIAL COORDINATION Versal Editores Editor-in-Chief José Enrique Barreiro Executive Editor Cláudio Lovato Filho English Translation H. Sabrina Gledhill Photo Editor Holanda Cavalcanti Art/Graphic Production Rogério Nunes English Edition Coordinator & Electronic Publishing Maria Celia Alves Olivieri Printing 570 copies Pre-Press and Printing Pancrom Editorial offices: Rio de Janeiro +55 21 2239-4023 São Paulo +55 11 3641-4743 e-mail: versal@versal.com.br Also available in Portuguese and Spanish editions

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contribution

History and modernity. Preserving heritage sites and seeking solutions that the present and future demand. How can we make sure that they coexist harmoniously, in a complementary way? First, we need to understand the territory – the people who make it their home and livelihood, the spirit of their buildings and monuments, their avocations and passions, their needs and treasures. In Rio de Janeiro, the docklands are undergoing a revitalization project called Porto Maravilha (Port Wonder). The physical interventions are just the tangible side of the transformation that is taking place in that part of the city. The main achievement, however, is invisible: the increased self-esteem of the city’s residents and their pleasure in knowing that they – and their beloved territory – are respected, valued and understood.


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