Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2667 actions· ✨ 89 recent

Brazil's national development bank BNDES approved BRL 2 billion (~USD 340 million) in support for Rumo S.A. via subscription of the full volume of debentures the company issued to fund the first 162km stage of the Ferrovia de Mato Grosso (FMT), a state railway linking Rondonópolis (MT) to a BR-070 grain terminal at Dom Aquino (MT) with capacity to move up to 10 million tonnes of grain per year. The stage is part of a planned ~743km, five-phase FMT network connecting Rondonópolis to Lucas do Rio Verde with a branch to Cuiabá, and follows two other 2025 BNDES-coordinated debenture issuances (BRL 4.8 billion raised across three issuances in 2025) financing Rumo's Mato Grosso and Malha Paulista rail investments.

On 11 December 2025 the Council of the EU presidency, the European Parliament, and the European Commission reached provisional political (trilogue) agreement on the revision of Regulation (EU) 2019/452 establishing a framework for the screening of foreign direct investments into the Union, concluding interinstitutional negotiations on the Commission's proposal of 24 January 2024. The revised regime upgrades the 2019 cooperation-mechanism-only framework into a hybrid harmonised/mandatory regime: all 27 Member States must establish FDI screening mechanisms (replacing the current patchwork in which some Member States have no mechanism at all); mandatory minimum sectoral scope is set EU-wide and covers dual-use items, military equipment, hyper-critical technologies (general-purpose AI with space/defence relevance, quantum technologies, semiconductors), critical raw materials, critical entities in energy/transport/digital infrastructure, electoral infrastructure, and certain financial-system entities; foreign investments routed through EU subsidiaries fall within the perimeter; a shared database prevents Member-State arbitrage; and an optional single electronic-filing portal becomes available if requested by at least nine Member States. Screening decisions remain the exclusive responsibility of the Member State in which the investment is made. Once the Regulation enters into force (after Council and Parliament formal adoption and OJ publication, both pending as of the political-agreement date), the new rules will apply after an 18-month transition period — implementation expected toward the end of 2027.

Brazil's national development bank BNDES approved a BRL 331 million (~USD 60 million) loan, drawn from the Merchant Marine Fund (Fundo da Marinha Mercante), to Tecon Rio Grande S/A — the Wilson Sons container-terminal subsidiary operating Rio Grande do Sul's only dedicated container terminal — to fund dock automation, new ship-to-shore and rubber-tyred-gantry cranes, electric yard tractors and charging infrastructure, and dredging works. The financing is intended to let the terminal accommodate larger vessels and cut ship dwell time, reinforcing Tecon Rio Grande's role as a Southern Cone logistics hub serving Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay trade.

On 1 December 2025, Brazil's national development bank BNDES approved a BRL 4.64 billion (~USD 850 million) financing package — split between BRL 4.24 billion in debenture subscriptions and a BRL 400 million Finem credit line — to expand, modernise and maintain 11 airports operated by Aena Brasil across four states (São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Pará and Minas Gerais). Congonhas Airport (São Paulo) is the largest single beneficiary at roughly BRL 2 billion. The operation is structured as non-recourse project finance, with debt service paid solely from the airports' own revenue, and was rated AAA.br by Moody's Local Brasil. Including a coordinated public offering with Santander, total financial support to Aena reaches approximately BRL 5.7 billion.

China Development Bank announced a CNY 30 billion (~USD 4.2bn) special loan facility dedicated to the China-Europe Railway Express (中欧班列), financing construction of corridor, port and logistics-hub infrastructure plus working-capital support for enterprises operating the service. The scheme was unveiled at the Second China-Europe Railway Express International Cooperation Forum in Xi'an, alongside a matching CNY 30bn facility from the Export-Import Bank of China. CDB's Jiangsu, Henan and Shaanxi branches signed initial project-financing agreements with Lianyungang Port Holding Group, Henan International Logistics Hub Construction and Operation Co., and Xi'an International Port Group respectively.

The Government of Manitoba announced CAD 51 million in new provincial funding for Arctic Gateway Group — the First Nations- and Bayline community-owned operator of the Hudson Bay Railway and Port of Churchill — to fund capital improvements bringing the rail line up to Class I freight-load standard and to build a new critical-minerals storage and loading facility at the port. The announcement was made jointly with the federal government as part of the "Port of Churchill Plus" initiative, bringing cumulative provincial investment in the project to CAD 87.5 million and combined federal-provincial commitment to CAD 262.5 million over five years (including CAD 175 million in federal funding announced March 2025). The project is explicitly positioned as building sovereign Arctic export capacity for critical minerals and potash, reducing reliance on southern rail/port corridors and US-routed trade.

On 11 November 2025 President Mamadi Doumbouya officially inaugurated start of operations at the Simandou Integrated Project — Africa's largest greenfield mine-and-infrastructure asset — at a ceremony attended by the presidents of Rwanda and Gabon, China's Vice-Premier, and PMs from Côte d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone. The project comprises Blocks 1–2 (WCS: Winning International / China Hongqiao / Baowu) and Blocks 3–4 (SimFer: Rio Tinto 53% / Chinalco-led JV 47%), connected by 622 km of multi-use trans-Guinean railway to barge and transhipment port facilities at Forécariah, operated by Compagnie du TransGuinéen (CTG). Combined design capacity is up to 120 Mt/yr of high-grade (~65% Fe) iron ore, the largest single addition to seaborne supply since Vale's S11D ramp in 2016, structurally reshaping Australia-Brazil price competition and China's iron-ore import geography.

Bangladesh's Council of Advisers, chaired by Chief Adviser Prof. Muhammad Yunus, approved the National Logistics Policy 2025 on 6 November 2025 at its 47th meeting, replacing the annulled 2024 Awami League-era logistics policy. The framework spans 11 chapters and establishes a technology-driven, integrated, sustainable logistics ecosystem aimed at positioning Bangladesh as a leading regional trade and logistics hub by 2050. Two-tier governance architecture: a National Logistics Council (led by the Chief Adviser) for top-level coordination, and a National Logistics Development and Coordination Committee (led by the Chief Adviser's Principal Secretary) for implementation oversight across multimodal hubs, economic zones, international corridors, airports, river ports, sea ports, and land ports.

Brazil's national development bank BNDES approved a BRL 848 million (~USD 159 million) loan, drawn from the Fundo da Marinha Mercante (Merchant Marine Fund), to Tecon Salvador SA — the Wilson Sons container-terminal subsidiary that operates the Port of Salvador's container terminal in Bahia — to fund storage-yard expansion, new handling equipment, and infrastructure/technology modernisation works. The project targets a near-doubling of annual handling capacity, from roughly 553,000 to over 1 million TEUs, and BNDES estimates approximately 1,400 direct and indirect jobs during the implementation phase.

On 30 September 2025, Vietnam Development Bank (VDB) — the state policy bank — signed a strategic cooperation agreement with two major private conglomerates, Son Hai Group and Truong Hai Group (Truong Hai Auto Corporation / THACO), committing up to VND 100 trillion (~USD 3.8 billion) in credit financing over 2025-2030 for national transport-infrastructure projects. The same signing event executed a specific credit contract under which VDB's Dak Lak branch finances up to VND 4.975 trillion of the VND 8.4 trillion Dau Giay-Tan Phu Expressway (part of the Eastern North-South Expressway corridor linking Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, Lam Dong and the Central Highlands). The arrangement channels concessional state development-bank credit to two designated national champions for long-term infrastructure build-out.

On 23 July 2025, the Quang Binh Branch of the Vietnam Development Bank (VDB) signed an investment credit loan agreement with Hon La Port Joint Stock Company for VND 818.651 billion (~USD 31.2 million), financing part of the VND 2,299 billion Hon La International General Port Project in Dong Hoi City, Quang Binh Province. The loan carries a 20-year term and finances a two-phase, 39.22-hectare port development with four berths for vessels up to 70,000 DWT, intended to serve the Hon La Economic Zone and regional transshipment needs.

The New Development Bank (NDB) Board of Directors approved a RMB 1.448 billion (~CNY 1.45 billion, ~USD 200 million) sovereign loan to the People's Republic of China on 14 July 2025 to finance the Shanxi Taiyuan Wusu Zero-Carbon Airport Project. The project will convert Taiyuan Wusu International Airport into China's first zero-carbon airport via over 100 MW of installed solar capacity, a pilot PV-Energy Storage-Direct Current-Flexible Loads (PEDF) system, and 100% renewable-based heating and cooling — a first among China's regional hub-scale airports. Shanxi Aviation Industry New Energy Company (SAINE), a joint venture of Shanxi Aviation Industry Group (SAIG) and two government-owned geological-engineering and industrial-construction enterprises, will implement the project between 2025 and 2029. NDB below-market development-bank pricing functions as an indirect state-adjacent subsidy for the build-out.

On 3 February 2024 Guinea's National Transition Council (CNT) ratified three inter-linked conventions structuring the Simandou integrated iron-ore mega-project: (i) the co-development agreement for the 670km Trans-Guinéen rail and Morebaya/Forécariah port, executed via the Compagnie du TransGuinéen (CTG) JV between the Republic of Guinea, Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS) and Rio Tinto Simfer; (ii) the WCS operating framework for blocks 1–2; and (iii) the bilateral adjustments to Simfer's amended-and-consolidated base convention covering blocks 3–4 with Rio Tinto and Chinalco/Baowu participation. Estimated integrated capex USD 15–20bn; first commercial shipment from Forécariah occurred in November 2025 with President Mamadi Doumbouya attending. At full ramp Simandou is designed for ~120 Mt/yr of high-grade (~65% Fe) ore — the largest single addition to seaborne iron-ore supply since Vale's S11D (2016).

Angola's Ministry of Transport formalised a 30-year concession to Lobito Atlantic Railway (LAR — Trafigura 49.5% / Mota-Engil 49.5% / Vecturis S.A. 1%) for the operation, management and maintenance of the Lobito Corridor — comprising the 1,300 km Benguela Railway from the Port of Lobito to Luau (Angola-DRC border) and the Lobito port mineral terminal. The international tender was won on 4 November 2022; the concession contract was signed on 4 July 2023 at a ceremony attended by the Presidents of Angola, the DRC and Zambia. LAR commenced operations in January 2024. The concession is paired with the trilateral Lobito Corridor Transit Transport Facilitation Agency Agreement (LCTTFA), signed at Lobito Port on 27 January 2023 by the Transport ministers of Angola, the DRC and Zambia, which establishes the cross-border customs/transit framework for the corridor.