Iggor Gomes Rocha highlighted that the lack of mature projects and low institutional collaboration prevent the use of federal resources intended for regional development.
During his participation in the “Green and Sustainable Maranhão” panel, held this Thursday (13th) during COP30 in Belém (PA), the Administrative Director of Itaipu Binacional, Iggor Gomes Rocha, advocated for strategic cooperation among state-owned companies and other public institutions as a way to enable access to federal resources.
According to him, there is a “profusion of investments” and funding sources available, but they fail to reach the local level due to the lack of well-structured projects. “If we build institutional capacity, we can make a substantial leap within one or two years,” he said. Rocha cited the example of a 47% increase in credit released by BNDES to the state of Maranhão over the past two years, indicating strong receptivity to well-developed proposals.
The director emphasized that Brazil’s low-collaboration institutional model is one of the obstacles to development. To illustrate the potential of cooperation, he mentioned Itaipu initiatives that could support the São Francisco and Parnaíba Valleys Development Company (Codevasf).
“We have a project for the restoration of springs — because water is our input for energy production — and Codevasf needs a similar project because of drought in some states. Why don’t we join forces and create a single project?” he questioned.
According to Rocha, combining efforts among state-owned companies facing similar challenges would not only optimize resources but also allow for the sharing of accumulated knowledge, preventing each entity from having to “start from scratch” when seeking financing in Brasília. He extended Itaipu’s offer of collaboration to other areas, such as the decarbonization of ports and the development of new technologies, including the use of green hydrogen in data centers.
Opportunities
Rocha pointed to several open calls for proposals, such as those from the Itaipu More than Energy program, and funding sources that could benefit Maranhão, including those from the National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development (FNDCT), administered by the Funding Authority for Studies and Projects (FINEP), and programs such as Tecnova, for micro and small businesses, and Pro-Amazônia, focused on research, development, and innovation projects for the Amazon region.
A key highlight was the potential of parliamentary amendments, whose budget, he noted, has grown more than 1,000% in ten years. Rocha, who is from Maranhão — one of the reasons he was invited to the panel — stated that the execution of these resources remains low, at around 40%, due to the lack of good projects ready for funding.
For him, inter-institutional cooperation can help structure more robust and mature proposals to attract these funds. At the end of the session, the director committed, on behalf of Itaipu and the federal government, to systematize and publish, in partnership with Invest Maranhão, a document compiling the financing opportunities announced during COP30 so that they effectively reach the state.
