APEX-Brazil and UNICA invest to promote Brazilian ethanol

The Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency, known as APEX-Brazil, and UNICA publicly announced on February 25, 2008 their strategy to promote the image of Brazil’s sugar-cane ethanol abroad as a clean fuel from a renewable source. On the occasion, the two entities signed at UNICA’s headquarters, in São Paulo, an agreement providing shared investments.

Marcos Jank, UNICA’s president and CEO

The project to be carried out by Apex-Brazil and UNICA comprises sensitization, enabling the supply of Brazilian ethanol, business intelligence studies, and especially business and image promotion actions.

The target markets are countries in North America, Europe and Asia. The industry’s first representation office was opened by UNICA in Washington, DC (United States), which is considered a strategic location for working with the US government and opinion leaders. The second one is located in Brussels, Belgium. And the third office will be situated in an Eastern Asian country that is yet to be determined.

UNICA’s participation in biofuel events will provide an opportunity to advertise the comparative advantages of producing ethanol from sugar-cane and to network in order to expand the association’s interaction with policymakers and international market representatives.
By means of public relations actions, the agreement can influence the process of building the Brazilian ethanol’s image among the world’s major opinion leaders —governments and the media, as well as trading companies, potential investors and importers, NGOs and consumers.

From left: Jank, Manoel Bertone, Secretary of Production and Agroenergy, Miguel Jorge, Minister of Development, Industry and Trade, and Alessandro Teixeira, president of Apex-Brazil

Supply Chain – The project also targets UNICA’s active participation in the formulation of governmental policies for the industry and the discussion of such themes as market access and biofuel certification.

Not only will the project directly benefit the more than 100 UNICA member companies and other sugar and ethanol industries throughout the country, it will also favor the sugar-cane ethanol supply chain, which includes research into biotechnology for new sugar-cane varieties, input and equipment suppliers, sugar-cane growers, trading companies, industrial businesses, logistics and a variety of service providers.