Rio, October 10, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The capital goods sector is "reviving" and should show more than US$ 500 million in machinery and equipment exports this year. This estimate was released by the Minister of Development, Luiz Felipe Furlan, who regards the sector as the "backbone of Brazilian development."
On Wednesday (1), at the headquarters of the BNDES (National Economic and Social Development Bank), Furlan installed the Forum for Competitiveness in the Capital Goods Productive Chain, which is designed to establish a joint program to give the sector long-term sustainability through various initiatives in the areas of government investments, infrastructure, and government purchases, mainly in the area of logistics, with the re-equipping of ports and airports. The Minister also underlined the possibility of using products made by the capital goods sector in projects for the physical integration of South America in the energy field, as, for example, in the construction of gas pipelines.
With respect to the area of government purchases, the Minister of Development revealed that, in a project that is being prepared by the Ministries of Finance, Planning, and Development and the Presidential Civilian Advisory Staff, the government is considering giving priority to this sector. "As this project takes shape, more favorable credit terms might be provided, in the sense of stimulating new investments and modernization of some sectors of the Brazilian economy," he affirmed.
The idea is also to conduct a more aggressive program in the area of exports, including the sector in trade missions and Presidential trips abroad. Furlan cited the possibilities that are unfolding for Brazilian machinery and equipment exports to Africa, where President Lula will travel in November, as well as to Arab countries, which he will visit in December, especially in the area of equipment for the petroleum industry.
Furlan expects the Forum for Competitiveness to produce results very shortly. During the encounter, a study on the sector, prepared by the Brazilian Association of the Machinery and Equipment Industry (Abimaq), was presented. One suggestion made by the entity was the creation of a program in Brazil to finance the acquisition of machinery and equipment, the Modermaq, along the same lines as the BNDES's Moderfrota, a credit line for the purchase and modernization of agricultural machinery and equipment, for which the current minimum index of national production is 60%. The proposal will be analyzed jointly by Furlan, the BNDES, and the capital goods sector.
The Minister informed that he is also working together with the Minister of Finance, Antônio Palocci, to relieve the burden on the capital goods sector in the context of the tax reform. Furlan acknowledged that this represents a very broad discussion, involving the Congress and the governors, but he declared that it is his intention to be successful in this mission.
According to data from the Ministry of Development, the sector registers a annual average deficit of US$ 3.6 billion in the trade balance, and exports have stagnated for the past five years, averaging US$ 3.5 billion per year over this period. (DAS)
