President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva says that there will be money for infrastructure projects in Brazil and many firms that have been forced to close down will be back in business soon. “That is what happened to our shipbuilding industry.
But we are reversing that situation now. The same is happening in the railroad industries that make locomotives, cars, parts and tracks, where recovery is also occurring,” said the president.
Lula pointed out that the surge in Brazilian exports has taken place because his administration did not wait for buyers to come looking for goods.
“We moved aggressively to show the world that we are not just a country that plays soccer and has a nice carnival. We have more than homeless people being killed on the streets of our biggest city.
“We have more than street kids. We are all that and much more. We are also a country with cutting edge technology and a skilled workforce. And we are ready to become one of the world’s great economies,” he said.
Transpetro, the Petrobras subsidiary for transportation, has emitted an official note in June reaffirming that it will build 22 new ships in Brazilian shipyards. The reason for the note cited was “the circulation of news reports to the effect that Transpetro intended to have the ships built abroad.”
In the note the president of Tranpetro, Sergio Machado, declared that the decision to build domestically was made ” in order to contribute to the economic and social development of Brazil and assist the revitalization of the domestic shipbuilding industry.”
According to Transpetro, the orders for the new ships will inject US$ 1.3 billion into the economy and create 24,000 jobs, along with 120,000 indirect jobs. It is expected that 60% of the components in the construction will be made in Brazil.
Agência Brasil