Economist Gabriel Pikavea Torres, who was elected president of the Institute for Business Studies (IEE) for the year in April, understands that the first agenda for economic recovery is to accelerate vaccination of the population in the country. State with the onset of privatization.

In this interview with Trade journalTorres also talks about the importance of resuming the training of new leaders based on a new scenario of digitizing the economy, as well as expanding the influence of the Freedom Forum, an annual event hosted by the IEE.

Jornal do Comércio – What are your administration’s goals for the IEE?

Gabriel Picavea Torres – We want to modernize the training of leaders, this is our main task. We were created to educate entrepreneurship leaders, who influence not only their business but also society, to tackle any public problem that the private sector can solve with the help of a non-profit organization like Instituto Floresta. Or in public life, referring to governments such as Paulo Ubel (former secretary for de-bureaucratization, governance and digital government at the Ministry of Economy), Wagner Lenhart (former federal government secretary for personnel management and performance) and Ricardo Gomes (current deputy mayor of Porto -Alegri, DEM). So, our goals for management in the IEE are to modernize training (leaders), adapt to the moment when personal communication is no longer as relevant as it was in the past – it is still relevant, but there is no such centralism as before, there are virtual tools – and to leverage the influence of the Freedom Forum, the flagship of the IEE, for over 20 years.

JC – How will the IEE act in training business leaders for your management?

Torres – Good leaders are people who can inspire sympathy, communicate and motivate those around them for entrepreneurial initiatives, reflections on business, activism or social life. And they do it on the basis of certain values ​​- personal freedom – for everyone who wants to prosper. Within the framework of law, state and democratic law, we use rules to guarantee the most basic rights of any person – freedom, prosperity, property, respect for life. So, leadership that promotes through these values ​​what we need to start changing institutions and making them open, inclusive, which increases the likelihood that anyone will be able to achieve what they want.

JC – You’re talking about strengthening institutions through the work of good leaders. Can you illustrate this?

Torres – This is the reality of countries that have strong institutions that manage to ensure prosperity for their citizens, opportunities for people to improve their lives. This is why we need increasingly strong institutions – open ones that allow anyone to participate and contribute, as well as inclusive institutions. These are good rules of the game to create a competitive environment. Here I can speak from the market, business, education-related issues … And that innovation is not blocked or prohibited by governments or organizations that do not want innovation to happen. Transport applications have been a great example of recent years. There was an archaic institution that legally prohibited the appearance of these applications. Transport applications appeared, people decided to use these applications for movement, and then there was a clash between those who used the previous rules for the market reserve, against the initiative of greater competition and freedom. We must allow the repetition of similar situations (applications) in all markets, this is a guarantee of more competition and opportunity, a freer market in which the consumer is sovereign. And that, after all, we can have a pulsating and innovative market economy.

JC – The Freedom Forum has reshaped the pandemic. How do you plan the next editions of the event?

Torres “As vaccination progresses, when we can host events with large audiences in person, it is natural that we have a Freedom Forum bringing together the best of both worlds. Let’s combine all the good things that online gives us in terms of coverage, schedule flexibility, the ability to participate at a distance, virtually from someone else in the world. This is the good side that online brings us, and the same in terms of the audience. The Forum is no longer an event held only in Rio Grande do Sul, it can attract Brazilians from other parts of Brazil, even foreigners. And also bringing in the good part of the presence, the opportunity for people to communicate here in Porto Alegre with good speakers, people who want to exchange ideas or learn more. We will maximize engagement, relationship, intimacy and empathy personally, but also provide us with the reach and opportunities that the Internet gives us.

JC – So is the forum an example of a pandemic transformation that must remain?

Torres – The hybrid model online and in person is the way forward in the coming years. The role of the forum is to convey liberal ideas to a growing audience, to conduct mature debates focused on real solutions to real problems.

JC – What is the IEE focusing on now?

Torres – Prepare the member for the correct position. We encourage our employees to hold positions and make them public when they feel comfortable.

JC – How do you assess the role of public and private institutions in Brazil?

Torres – We have a common leadership vacuum in Brazil. There are not enough balanced people capable of holding public office. Obviously, with rare exceptions, I don’t want to be frivolous. Just point out that there is often a lack of serenity, attentiveness, a little empathy for opposing positions. It is very alarming when people in government positions begin to exacerbate the position of institutions. For example, the Supreme Court, which ultimately even legislates on issues, interprets the Constitution in a way that is not like what the Constitution says. I’m weird. People in leadership positions take a rash position and sometimes even slightly overstep the line of common sense and politeness. True leadership in times of crisis works much more to help find solutions and calm anger than to rekindle anger and make an environment that is already unstable by nature even more unstable.

JC – How do you assess the ongoing privatization in the state – CEE, Korsan, Sulgas?

Torres – Finally, in Rio Grande do Sul and in Brazil in general, the privatization agenda is no longer taboo. This is perceived by the political system, legislative, executive and even judicial authorities as an agenda for society. People are tired of seeing arguments about whether the sewer company is, for example, public or private. People want results. And they realized that the private sector produces much more results than the public sector. Just look at the sewerage situation with state-owned companies in all states and in many Brazilian municipalities. For 60 years, he had a municipality hoping to get full sanitation coverage, but that didn’t happen.

JC – What about privatization at the national level? Are they at the right pace?

Torres – It could be faster, you can go further. Congress often hesitates to respond. Answered better, we must praise this. It is important to privatize and no longer have a state monopoly, but also to ensure that no one falls into a private monopoly. For innovation to flourish further, competition and freer markets are needed.

JC – What does it take for the economy to grow again?

Torres – The first agenda is vaccination. People will not leave their homes and the economy will not recover without normalization. The first step is to accelerate the pace of vaccination. The second is the promotion of an institutional reform program, especially tax, tax simplification and administrative reform, which tackles the main problem of government accounts, which generates all fiscal costs. Thus, a kind of time bomb set in the Constituent Assembly is being dismantled. Government spending has turned into spending with constant vegetative growth, regardless of who is in power and the level of productivity.

JC – How do you analyze the reform debate in Congress?

Torres – Now the focus of Congress is tax and administrative reform. If these two programs move forward, Congress will make an important contribution to society. Brazil is one of the few large countries with extremely high consumption taxes. This taxation mainly affects the most humble people who consume most of their income. And this does not apply to developed countries, where taxation is focused not only on consumption. In Brazil, the situation is even worse because it is regressive, cascading and costly, not only for small entrepreneurs who find it difficult to scale up their business, but also for citizens.

JC – How do you rate Brazil in the second year of the pandemic?

Torres – Brazil has stopped doing homework. In terms of combating Covid-19, we are looking at, for example, South Korea, a country that has been struggling with pandemics and epidemics emanating from China for a long time. South Korea has taken a number of smarter measures, always thinking about considering health care, but without stifling economic activity, from the massive use of rapid testing and tracking systems to isolate people who have been infected, and even to inform these people that they were infected. and therefore it was wise for them to stay at home and hide for a while; protect people from the at-risk groups who are obviously the most affected over the past two years. Brazil did not. We are getting into a political debate instead of dealing with health risk management.

JC – Could the 2022 Election Approach Affect the Brazilian Economy?

Torres – The election campaign has already begun, we are already discussing next year’s elections in a polarized environment, with two candidates (Jair Bolsonaro, without a party, and Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, PT), in my opinion, populists – from different parties. but populists, and this is not the path that Brazil needs. We need the path of the reform program. If these two candidates, or any other candidate that comes along, supports the reform program, great, and then we may have a better solution.

JC – Is the pandemic scenario in any way helping to improve public and private institutions?

Torres – We live in a dichotomous environment. We have successes and failures. As for the achievements, the reform program, since 2016 we have already approved the labor reform, the cost ceiling, the social security reform, the state property law, the legal framework for startups, the sanitation structure, the list of reforms in which we are moving forward. But there are other bizarre situations where the Supreme Court passes laws and interprets the Constitution in ways that surprise even those working in the legal field, restrictions on the creation of various political parties because it threatens traditional political parties. On other fronts – the weakening of the anti-corruption program of Operation Lava Yato, which is also not positive for Brazil.

JC – Do you believe in the viability of a center candidacy for Planalto?

Torres – In Brazil, we pay too much attention to the candidacy of the executive branch. There is no point in having a president more committed to reform if Congress doesn’t go. As for a candidate for the executive branch (center), there is room as long as there is a candidate who knows how to voice the reform agenda to people, what society wants the country to move forward.