Revista Paint & Pintura - Edição 239

CLIPPING 6 | PAINT&PINTURA | Dezembro 2018 EDITORIAL - A CLEAN SLATE It’s beena tough year, full of struggle, butwe areemerging stronger at the end, hoping that better things will come our country’s way in every respect. A new expectation arises that, at long last, we will be gradually coming out of the crisis that has haunted Brazilians for quite a while. Optimism has prevailed, as we are getting to the close of the year with high expectations for 2019. Much of this is attributed to president-elect Jair Bolsonaro, whose early cabinet decisions are considered good news. One such decision was appointing former judge Sergio Moro to serve in his new government as Justice Minister, as part of an effort to further add effectiveness to Brazil’s ongoing anti-corruption efforts. According to former FinanceMinister HenriqueMeirelles, we are looking at a rather promising future. In a state- ment put out in the last week of November, he said that Brazil’s economy has great potential for growth, which could exceed 2.5 percent in 2019. He cautions, however, that such an improvement will hinge on reforms that the new administration will have to make. We are banking on that! Apage of upheaval in the history of the Brazilian economy is being turned. Though things won’t be easy early into the year 2019, it does come with renewed hopes for Bra- zil. Faced with the need to pass reforms, president-elect Bolsonaro has said somemeasures might be hard to take at first. “Some of our measures will be a bit of a bitter pill to swallow, but we must not accept the possibility of following in the footsteps of Greece, for example. The House, the Senate and the Governors are all fully aware of what needs to be done,” Bolsonaro said. And thus the struggle goes on, but now with a more optimistic outlook and a positive vibe that seems to be renewed each day in the country. Our featured reporting for this December issue of Paint & Pin- tura reflects precisely how the paint and coatings industry has been committed to ongoing investment actions and bringing innovations into the Brazilian market. In the industry, too, optimism has prevailed. Check out the news in our pieces on wetting and dispersing agents, polyurethane resins, and oils and derivatives. Also highlighted in this issue is the interviewSilvio Torres, head of Covestro’s Coatings, Adhesives and Specialties business for Latin America, gave to Paint & Pintura in which he talks about how important the Brazilianmarket is to the company and how theywill continue investing and ushering into the country new technologies and innovative, sustainable products. In addition, Torres says that while he has been in this position for only a year and a half, he has an 18-year career with the company, and has continued the great work of his predecessors. He also unveils some of Covestro’s plans for the future in Latin America, and especially in Brazil. And since this is the last month of the year, a number of com- panies and associations in the coatings industry are taking some time out to celebrate. Sitivesp (short in Portuguese for Union of São Paulo State Paint and CoatingManufacturers) has held its traditional year-end event and took the opportunity to present its Supplier of the Year Awards. The event took place on November 22 at the FIESP (São Paulo State Industry Asso- ciation), in São Paulo, and honored ten companies that stood out in the marketplace in the course of the year as suppliers of raw materials. Another major commemorative event was held by Solvay, which celebrated 60 years of the implementation of its first oxygenated solvent plant in Paulínia, São Paulo. You can read all of these articles in the coming pages. Lucélia Monfardini Interview - Focus on Innovation and Sustainability Covestro is banking on the Brazilianmarket and continues investing and ushering in new technologies and innova- tive, sustainable products. Covestro, a Bayer spin off formed in the fall of 2015 and formerly BayerMaterialScience, celebrated in September 11, 2018 the three-year anniversary of its new identity, but with the experience of a company that has been in busi- ness for 150 years. Currently, Covestro employs 16,000 people around the world. In this interviewwith Paint & Pintura, which is available in only in the Portuguese version, Silvio Torres, head of the Coatings, Adhesives and Specialties business for Latin America, who has been in this position for only a year and a half, but has worked for the company for 18 years, talks about what it has been like to serve in this role and howCovestro is doing in Latin America in terms of goals, projects and investments, especially in the Brazilian market. Torres has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Faculdades Integradas deOsasco and did his graduate studies at Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV) and Business School SP. He has amassed