Brasília, June 26, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva acknowledged that the reform proposals submitted by the Administration to the National Congress are "complicated" for the country to enact. In a speech opening the First Seminar on Infrastructure for Sustainable Development, the President said that the Administration had to be courageous to send the reform proposals to Congress. "Reform is always very complicated. We, human beings, tend to be conservative; we don't want to change. We get used to things, even if they aren't the best in the world. I am saying this for nobody to become upset because we are conservative. It's a law of nature. For this reason we decided to undertake the reforms," he affirmed.

According to the President, the changes in the tax and social security systems are necessary, because the changes they will bring about will not be limited to his time in office. "If we don't carry them (the reforms) out, 20 years from now we won't know what State we shall have. This is the reason we are convinced that we shall do what we set out to do," he emphasized.

The President recalled that Brazil will only be successful in attracting investments if it invests in its physical and economic structure. Along the same lines, he said that tax reform can prepare the way for new investments, because it unifies the sales tax (ICMS) legislation and avoid tax wars between Brazilian states. (DAS)