Yara Aquino
Reporter - Agência Brasil
Brasília - The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) plans to invest US$ 528.33 million (R$ 1.2 billion) in the Brazilian agro-energy program, which is geared to the production of ethanol and biodiesel. Yesterday (1) the secretary of Production and Agro-Energy in the Ministry of Agriculture, Linneu Costa Lima, handed the Japanese the final report of the Brazilian Agriculture for Energy Program, containing information on the country's biofuel production.
The minister of Agriculture, Roberto Rodrigues, visited Japan in 2004 to present agro-energy as an alternative to the global process of liquid fuel consumption. Representatives of the Japonese bank are now in Brazil with an extensive analysis of the subject and a proposal to provide financing in the areas of technological and entrepreneurial development.
According to the minister, the project is aimed at reinforcing three fronts: technological development, small farmers who cultivate crops used to produce ethanol or biodiesel, and farmers associated in cooperatives. The government is the target of the first of these fronts.
The executive director of the JBIC, Montonori Tsumo, said that the idea of investing in Brazilian agro-energy reflects the new Japonese energy strategy of eliminating dependence on petroleum and converting to an ecologically sustainable fuel. "Biomass has aroused interest all over the world," he observed. The report submitted by the Brazilian government is expected to serve as a benchmark for defining the profile of investments and the relationship between the governments of the two countries.
The next step is for the Brazilian government to present projects in which the resources can be invested. According to the minister, the Japanese bank expressed interest in assigning experts to help structure the project. "Their financial backing will benefit Brazilian agriculture in the areas of research and production. The benefit to them will be to obtain ethanol from us," Rodrigues explained.
Translation: David Silberstein
