VZCZCXRO1740
PP RUEHRG
DE RUEHSO #0163/01 0601318
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 011318Z MAR 07
FM AMCONSUL SAO PAULO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6496
INFO RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 7600
RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 2948
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 2660
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 2293
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ 3247
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0452
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 1506
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 2005
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 3409
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 7852
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 2725
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SAO PAULO 000163 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/FO, WHA/BSC, WHA/EPSC, WHA/PDA 
STATE ALSO FOR P, S/P, E, EB/CBA 
STATE PASS USTR FOR CRONIN 
STATE PASS EXIMBANK 
STATE PASS OPIC FOR DMORONESE, NRIVERA, CVERVENNE 
NSC FOR FEARS 
TREASURY FOR OASIA, DAS LEE AND JHOEK 
USDOC FOR 4332/ITA/MAC/WH/OLAC 
USDOC FOR 3134/ITA/USCS/OIO/WH/RD 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
USAID FOR LAC/AA 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: BEXP ETRD EINV ECON PGOV BR
SUBJECT: UNDER SECRETARY BURNS' ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION WITH CEOs IN 
SAO PAULO, FEBRUARY 6, 2007 
 
 
------- 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1.  (U) Under Secretary of State R. Nicholas Burns' February 6 
roundtable with the CEOs of major American companies and 
subsidiaries in Sao Paulo provided business leaders a chance to 
comment on the lcal and regional business environment and detail 
their corporate social responsibility programs.  U/S Burns 
emphasized our hope to build further on positive U.S.-Brazilian 
relations and for greater Brazilian engagement on common global 
challenges. End Summary 
 
¶2.  (U) On February 6, Under Secretary Burns and his delegation 
attended a roundtable with CEOs of the Brazilian subsidiaries of 
major U.S corporations doing business in Brazil. 
 
PARTICIPANTS 
------------ 
 
Under Secretary Burns 
WHA Assistant Secretary Tom Shannon 
Special Energy Coordinator Greg Manuel 
S/P Member William McIlhenny 
P Special Assistant Heide Bronke 
Ambassador Clifford Sobel 
USAID Director Jennifer Adams 
FCS Deputy SCO Danny Devito 
Jim Cramer, FCS (notetaker) 
 
Alexandre Silva, CEO, GE; Chairman, AmCham Brazil 
Natal Garcia, CEO, Caterpillar Brasil Ltda. 
Marcos S. de Oliveira, CEO, Ford 
Michel Levy, CEO, Microsoft 
Geraldo Barbosa, CEO, Beckton Dickinson 
Rogerio de Oliveira, CEO, IBM 
Eduardo Bernini, CEO, AES Eletropaulo 
Ambassador Sergio Amaral, Fundacao Armando Alvares Penteado (FAAP) 
Pedro Luiz Dias, Director, General Motors 
Adriana Machado, Advocacy Manager, AmCham 
 
¶3.  (U) The roundtable focused on Brazil's general business 
environment, as well as the companies' different Corporate Social 
Responsibility (CSR) programs.  After opening the meeting with a 
thank you to all the participants, Ambassador Sobel turned the floor 
over to Alex Silva, Chairman of AmCham Brazil and President of GE 
Brazil.  After discussing GE's history and profile, Silva spoke of 
the different issues facing businesses in Brazil - namely, 
bureaucracy and high taxes.  Silva did mention that while Brazil 
presents significant challenges, GE operates across the globe and 
has experience in even more difficult markets.  He added that the 
CEO of GE Global continues to be bullish on Brazil, and the company 
expects to see continued revenue growth from the market.  Turning to 
his role as AmCham Chairman, Mr. Silva spoke of the different CSR 
initiatives the organization has, including the Eco Award, which 
brought Al Gore to Brazil in 2006 as the keynote speaker. 
 
¶4.  (U) Silva was followed by the President of IBM Brazil, Rogerio 
Oliveira, who said the company had tripled in size over the last few 
years and was moving fully into a services model.  The GoB, he 
added, does not yet understand the power and potential that services 
can bring to an economy.  While the government has some programs to 
promote services, strict labor laws and high taxes have limited the 
sector.  Yet both IBM and Ford, who spoke after IBM, remained 
 
SAO PAULO 00000163  002 OF 002 
 
 
optimistic and bullish on Brazil.  In January, Ford announced a USD 
one billion investment in Brazil's northeastern region, which 
Ambassador Sobel highlighted.  Ford South America was the company's 
largest profit center last year and expects plan to continue such 
growth through the recent acquisition of the Troller brand and a new 
vehicle launch in Sao Paulo later this year. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Michel Levy of Microsoft provided a brief overview of the 
company's CSR initiatives, and also spoke of the company's concern 
with protection of intellectual property in Brazil.  Caterpillar's 
President, Natal Garcia, followed by saying that while business is 
going well and the company exports 25 percent of its production to 
the United States, a bilateral trade agreement between the two 
countries is needed.  He added that while the economy and business 
continue to expand, Brazil's infrastructure bottlenecks make such 
growth less sustainable, and that tax, social security, and other 
reforms are badly needed.  Garcia referred to Caterpillar's 
successful CSR support for sustainable logging in the Amazon, in 
collaboration with USAID, as an example of their social programs. 
He also expressed concern with what he sees as anti-Americanism 
among some elements of the Brazilian government.  AES Sao Paulo also 
referred to their projects in collaboration with USAID, to extend 
electricity to millions of new, low-income clients.  AES openly 
promotes the idea that CSR and strategic business decisions can be 
made hand-in-hand. 
 
¶6.  (U) U/S Burns closed the meeting by thanking all participants 
and reiterating the idea that while Brazil and the U.S. are allies, 
much room exists for improved strategic projects and stronger 
relations.  He called on the Brazilian government to take on a more 
active global role, from security to all other issues, much as he 
has seen in India. 
 
¶7.  (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassy Brasilia and cleared 
by U/S Burns's delegation and Ambassador Sobel. 
 
MCMULLEN