$15.9 billion injected to bullet train project which now allows foreign companies in this process

Project shall be divided into two stages. The main new development is that the new Invitation to Bid allows the participation of foreign companies in this process.
At a Press Conference in the late afternoon, the General Director of the ANTT, Bernardo Figueiredo, announced that there will be two independent biddings: one for the hiring of the company that will take care of technology and also the operation of the train, and another for the construction of the work project itself.
According to Mr Figueiredo, the first stage should be assigned later this year, while the bidding for the infrastructure shall be left for 2012, so that the civil work may be defined once the choice of the rolling stock has been made.
The financial injection of R$ 20 billion (US$ 12.72 billion) from the BNDES will be maintained, with the possibility of an additional financing line of R$ 5 billion (US$ 3.18 billion) given by the National Treasury, as a subsidy, by reduction of interest.