President Dilma Rousseff said that the new phase of the Program for Investments in Logistics represents a watershed in the government's attempt to recover economic growth. Investments aimed at highways, railways, ports and airports are expected to total $63.6 billion.

“For us, development means investment, employment, income, and quality of life. It means being able to grow, work, and produce. We're gradually turning the page. It's a piecemeal and reality-oriented turning point that aims to show that, if difficulties are great, the people's and the government's energy and willingness to make our country move forward are even greater,” she said in a speech during the program's launch program.

Rousseff responded to the criticism that the government has come to a standstill due to the fiscal adjustment, and said that her second tenure is “headed for the way out,” not “the way in.” In her view, the measures announced in the present will “ripen” over the upcoming years, with both immediate and long-term effects.

“We're a government that has known how not to lose track or lose the ability to build the future, great as difficulties may be or may have been. It's not just in days of prosperity one should build the future. On the contrary, the most solid pillars of the future are those erected with much effort and determination in times of adversity.”

The president talked about the importance of the coordinating thw work of the federal and state governments and the private enterprise in carrying out the concessions. She added that the main goals of the initiative are improving services—with more efficiency and lower fees—and the appropriate revenue for investors. Rousseff argued that Brazil “is a country that follows the law,” and that the government has fulfilled and will keep fulfilling all the agreements signed with the private enterprise.

“We're making infrastructure concessions in order to boost efficiency and bring about better and quicker results, and to create a favorable environment for the circulation of wealth and the comfort of citizens. We're making the concessions in order to grow.”

While mentioning figures from the first stage of the concessions, which encompassed ports, airports and highways, the president said that the government managed to unblock frozen proceedings in order to allow investments in infrastructure, but she admitted that there is still a lot to be done in the sector.

“Results were good, but they don't mean we've managed to overcome all the obstacles and do everything that has to be done. The more we do, the more we come to realize there's more to be done,” she noted.