Lula invites entrepreneurs to invest in Brazil

06/04/2006 - 18h40

Nelson Motta
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - Yesterday (6), president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva invited Brazilian and foreign entrepreneurs to invest in the "infrastructure opportunities" that Brazil and other South American countries are offering.

"Come and discuss with us the possibilities of partnerships between companies. Come and discuss with us the development of our country and South America," the president urged, in São Paulo, at the closing ceremony of the World Economic Forum in Latin America.

The opportunities must not be wasted, as was the case in the 20th century, Lula told his audience, composed of around 250 entrepreneurs, politicians, academics, and civil society representatives from various countries who attended the forum in search of information on how Latin America can achieve sustained growth with social equality.

Referring to domestic job creation, Lula said that Brazil, after years of witnessing the growth of the informal economy, "has created four million formal positions in just 36 months."

According to the president, magic is not required to maintain the solidity of the Brazilian economy. "We have to increase our exports, of capital goods, most of all, for our industry to undergo a technological renewal compatible with our desires for growth," he explained to the entrepreneurs.

With respect to lowering interest rates, Lula admitted that they need to be reduced, but without permitting the return of inflation. "We will not allow inflation to return, and we will not sacrifice stability," he concluded.

Translation: David Silberstein