This Wednesday (08.08), the Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Sport Luís Fernandes attended a seminar organised by the London Business Network at City Hall in London.   He was one of the speakers of the panel 'International Business Opportunities and Global Sporting Events?.

In front of an audience of British and foreign entrepreneurs, Luis Fernandes described the three planning cycles for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and investments from the federal government in infrastructure, in addition to commenting on the economic impact expected to be generated by the World Cup and the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.  "We expect an impact of US$ 90 billion, with an additional 0.4% in the GDP until 2019."

The Secretary added that Brazil is going to learn with the London experience of organising big sporting events: "We want to learn how to organise and win the World Cup at the same time, as England did in 1966", he joked.

Also took part in the panel the Chief Executive of the Olympic Delivery Authority Dennis Hone; the Chairman of the London Business Network Stephen Hubbard; Director of Global Sports Projects of UK trade & Investment, Andrew Bacchus; and Chairman of Vero Communications Mike Lee.

Reurbanisation
In the afternoon, the Executive Secretary met with the Director of the Institute of Urban Development Studies of the London School of Economics (LSE) Ricky Burdett to talk about London's experience during the organisation of the Games.

During the meeting, Burdett explained how the London Olympic Games influenced the development of the city, driving the reurbanisation of an area that was already considered priority: the East End, where the Olympic Park was built. Another important impact is the improvement to transport and environmental policies, with the incentive for people to cycle, for example.

Burdett also informed Luis Fernandes that City Hall is delivering approximately 25 thousand new households.