Brazil to improve investment climate: minister

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's government wants to improve its investment climate by passing several bills in Congress before President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's term ends late next year, a senior political advisor told Reuters.

Brazil's business leaders have long complained that excessive red tape and regulatory uncertainty undermine Brazil's international competitiveness.

Lula said earlier this year his biggest regret since taking office in January 2003 was to not have tackled excessive bureaucracy earlier.

"We want to ensure security for private investment and speed up public investment," Alexandre Padilha, Lula's chief political advisor, said in an interview on Monday.

The government wants to advance stalled bills in Congress to end uncertainty over the powers of regulatory agencies, to accelerate the granting of environmental licenses and heighten transparency in public procurements, Padilha said.

The bills have been stuck in Congress for years and other government efforts to cut red tape have faced stiff opposition by entrenched bureaucrats.

But Padilha, a trained physician from Lula's Workers' Party, said the government had now made the issue a priority.

The government has an ample majority in the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Congress, and a narrow majority in the Senate.

Padilha, a type of government liaison with Congress, has close ties to Dilma Rousseff, Lula's powerful chief of staff and chosen presidential candidate in October 2010 elections.

NO TIME?

Still, the government risks getting side-tracked after June 2010 by the World Cup soccer tournament and campaigning for the presidential election later that year.

Already the government is spending political capital on a massive oil sector bill it wants passed early in 2010 and may lack the wherewithal to shepherd a new round of bills.

Brazil's economy has been expanding by around 5 percent in recent years and could grow close to that next year after emerging from a brief recession in 2009.

But many analysts say its economy is underperforming due to high operating costs, legal uncertainty and red tape.

Companies, particularly in the power industry, have complained about delays in obtaining environmental licenses. Last week the government warned it may have to increase the use of fossil fuel energy due to delays for hydroelectric plants.

The government proposal would cut the red tape and reduce the waiting time for environmental permits.

Another bill would increase the use of more transparent electronic bidding in government tenders and limit the possibility of government watchdogs to suspend public works projects.

A third bill would define the role of industry regulators on issues such as setting utility rates or holding public tenders for the right to drill oil or build power plants.

Uncertainty over regulators' powers was holding up much-needed investment in infrastructure, business leaders say.

"The bill on the regulatory agencies is well under way. We think the conditions are given to vote on it," said Padilha.

(Writing by Raymond Colitt; Editing by John O'Callaghan