There can be no growth without investment in infrastructure

With the aim of thrusting forward the country's development, CNI defends the idea of a reduction of the infrastructure deficit which is one of the major obstacles faced by national industries. For sustainable development to be a feasible proposition, it is necessary to invest in sectors such as electricity, sanitation and transportation, all of which lack appropriate emergency works and long-term planning.
              
The relation between infrastructure and economic growth is very clear. In Brazil, investments made by the Federal Union fell from 2% of the GNP at the end of the nineteen eighties, to 0.7% in the period from 2000 to 2004. Historically, the expansion of the Brazilian economy has always been associated to periods of heavy investment in infrastructure.

It is not only investments in generating electricity, repairing roads and expanding sewage networks that are in question but also actions capable of offering greater security to investors. In order to attract the participation of private capital, Brazil needs to establish clear and stable rules, duly supervised by regulatory bodies endowed with adequate resources, autonomy and technical capacity.

The synthesis of CNI's position in regard to infrastructure can be found in the Minimum Infrastructure Agenda delivered to government ministers in January 2006, and in a study entitled Growth: The Vision of Industry distributed to candidates during the Presidential election campaign of that same year.