Brasília, February 2, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - R$ 1.1 billion in investments by the Ministry of Transports will create 13,500 direct and indirect jobs in the shipbuilding industry, a 20% addition to the number of jobs in the sector. This is the forecast made by Minister Anderson Adauto.

According to Adauto, the resources will be used for the construction and modernization of vessels, in the following manner: R$ 583 million on projects that have already been contracted , R$ 181 million on those that are in the stage of being contracted, and R$ 366 million on those that are in the final phase of analysis prior to approval. (DAS)