Jackson BITENCOURT, University of Brasilia, Brazil, Brazil
The construction of bi-oceanic highway corridors is a priority on the Brazilian foreign agenda. These corridors decrease the logistical costs of trade with Asia and North America and encourage relations between South American countries, notably between border towns. Thereby, this research seeks to identify and compare regional and local development policies in two border cities that are interconnected to neighboring countries through two bi-oceanic highway corridors: Assis Brasil and Porto Murtinho. On the triple border between Brazil, Bolivia and Peru, the city of Assis Brasil, in the state of Acre, in the Amazon region, is connected to its neighboring countries through the Interoceanic Highway. Completed in 2010, this highway has intensified regional trade flows, but this context has not been enough to attract public policies for regional development or border integration. On the border with Paraguay, the city of Porto Murtinho, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, will have a road connection with Paraguay, northern Argentina and the coast of Chile through the Latin American Integration Route (LAIR). In the final phase of construction, LAIR will be crucial to improve the competitiveness of regional export segments, especially agribusiness. Through LAIR, the goods exported to the Pacific basin will present an average decrease of 50% in shipping costs, for example, to China. This research presents the following hypothesis: the strategic location of Porto Murtinho and LAIR are fundamental to improve the international competitiveness of Brazilian agribusiness, which has stimulated the political lobby of this sector in relation to public policies for local and regional development. The city of Assis Brasil, which does not have similar logistical attributes, has been the stage only for few public policies. Therefore, this research analyzes the territorial consequences of these unequal public policies for these two border cities.
Mots clés : Bi-oceanic Corridors |Regional Development |territorial inequality|border|Brazil
A103357JB