Vinicius Konchinski Reporter Agência Brasil

Johannesburg, South África – On Friday, July 9, Brazilian and South African authorities signed the most wide-ranging  cooperation agreements ever between the two nations.
After a meeting with president Jacob Zuma, president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva declared that it was his intention to transfer Brazilian technology in farming and digital TV, as well as to move ahead with plans to jointly build military aircraft.
“We want president Zuma to join us in the construction of the KC-139, a new Hercules transportation airplane that is based on a project by the Brazilian Army,” said Lula, adding that nine of the new planes would be flying in 2015.
Lula also revealed Brazilian interest in products made in South Africa. “We are interested in unmanned aircraft and vehicles that South Africa produces,” he said, explaining that with recent discoveries of petroleum, Brazil was more than ever interested in border protection. “We have a lot of borders. Land borders, an enormous coastline. And now petroleum 300 kilometers out in the ocean. If we are not careful, somebody else may want to go out there…” said the president.
 At the end of what is probably his last visit to the African continent, Lula summed up his eight years in office by saying that he had gone to more countries in Africa than any other Brazilian president, 27 of them, and that trade had risen from $5 billion in 2003  to $26 billion in 2009.
Lula said that before he leaves office he wants to see at least two more conferences of Brazilian and African businessmen. And he also lamented that there were no direct flights between Brazil and South Africa, saying he was going to try to fix that.

Allen Bennett – translator/editor The News in English
Link to related article  (Lula quer parceria com África do Sul para construção de aviões militares)