São Paulo, January 13, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The Ministers of Development, Industry, and Foreign Trade, Luiz Fernando Furlan, and Culture, Gilberto Gil, met today with entrepreneurs to discuss Brazil's participation at the World Economic Forum, which will take place in Davos, Switzerland, between January 23 and 28.

According to Gil, the delegation will discuss themes that should provoke interest on the part of Forum participants, such as the Zero Hunger program, inflation, public debt, and the prospects of Lula's Administration, as well as Brazil's position on questions like the Venezuelan crisis and the possibility of military actions against Iraq and their impact on the oil situation.

Gil said that the fact of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's participation in the World Social Forum, in Porto Alegre, and the World Economic Forum, in Davos, indicates a posture of openness to dialogue. "Lula should carry a message from the Social Forum to the Economic Forum," Gil said, remarking that the Economic Forum is increasingly including social issues on its agenda. (DAS)