São Paulo, 1/26/2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - As São Paulo celebrates its 450th anniversary, famous people remember the city for what it did for them. Among those people is Gilberto Gil, presently minister of Culture in the Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva government.

"The city of São Paulo played a very important role in my life," he said. After finishing business school in Salvador, Bahia, in the 1970s, he went to work at a multinational corporation. And at the same time, in São Paulo, he began his musical career as a founding member, along with Maria Betânia and Caetano Veloso, of the Tropicalist Movement. "São Paulo has always been a city that embraced me, took me in, and said 'yes!' It is a city that has a place in my heart. I am thankful to the city for liking my work," declared Gil.

As for using his ministry to help the city, Gil said there were plans to renovate historical sites and increase social inclusion in the outskirts of the city by opening libraries, theaters and movie houses. He also said that studies were underway for a partnership with the federal lotteries that would result in a Culture Lottery to raise funds for cultural projects. (AB)