After meeting with business leaders, Dilma will meet with ministers.

By Ana Flor

BRASILIA, Jan 11 (Reuters) - After meeting with business leaders in the first week back to work in 2013, President Dilma Rousseff will meet next week to plan new government actions to stimulate competitiveness and expand financing and investment in infrastructure, two government sources told Reuters.

This Thursday and Friday, the president listened to the business leaders' perspectives on the growth of the Brazilian economy this year, given its poor performance in 2012.

According to one source, they guaranteed participation in port and airport auctions, expansion of production investments, and, addressing one of the government's biggest concerns, maintaining stable employment rates—the near-full employment mark has been one of the main ingredients in the high approval ratings of Dilma's government.

"Our biggest concern is the need to increase investments. This country has never had the volume of construction projects that it is having now, it has never had the volume of projects that are planned, and it is necessary to increase financing from the private sector," Rodolpho Tourinho, president of the National Union of Heavy Industry (Sinicon), told reporters.

The president had stated, in a conversation with journalists at the end of December, that it was necessary for private banks to participate more in long-term financing to complement what the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) already offers to the productive sector.

This Friday, the president of Bradesco, Luiz Trabuco, was among those who held meetings with the president. She also met with the president of the Lafarge Group, Bruno Lafont. On Thursday, she received the presidents of Vale, Murilo Ferreira, of Odebrecht, Marcelo Odebrecht, and Rubens Ometto, president of the Board of Directors of Cosan.

In general, business leaders expressed belief in a stronger economic recovery this year. For the government, growth in the first quarter of the year is essential, signaling a more positive economic outlook for the beginning of the second half of Dilma's term, who is expected to face a reelection campaign next year.

"A lot is already being done. Now we need to put it into practice, I think, and point out the direction," Odebrecht told reporters.

In 2012, despite numerous government incentives and the Selic rate being reduced to a historic low of 7,25 percent per year, the Brazilian economy failed to take off and is expected to expand by about 1 percent. Among the measures taken by the government were the reduction of the Tax on Industrialized Products (IPI) for so-called white goods and automobiles, and the exemption of payroll taxes in various sectors.

The international crisis is one of the factors cited by the economic team for the poor performance, which argues that recovery is already underway. According to a Reuters poll, the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to grow by 3,5 percent this year.

In addition to the challenge of making the country grow, President Dilma also faced distrust earlier this year regarding the guarantee of energy supply, amid the lowest levels of the country's hydroelectric reservoirs in ten years.

Both on Thursday and Friday, business leaders stated that having a close relationship with the president is very positive. Dilma has frequently listened to representatives from various sectors and has already held at least two expanded meetings with business leaders.

According to advisors, the president is still defining the format of next week's meetings with ministers, many of whom are on vacation until Monday. She may alternate between individual meetings and sector-specific meetings.

(Additional reporting by Hugo Bachega)