Brasília, 4/29/2004 (Agência Brasil) - President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva declared that the best way to create jobs, consolidate businesses and win international market shares is through technological innovation. Speaking at a ceremony celebrating the completion of a bill that will establish a national council and agency for Industrial Development, Lula said that the keyword nowadays in the global economy is innovation. "We need to bring this word into the national productive vocabulary. In practical terms, this means investing more and more in differentiated goods, higher aggregate value products and strengthening Brazilian brand names, said the president.

According to Lula, countries that do not innovate will simply be left behind. He said Brazil's struggle toward development had a long history, and that the country had a significant presence and gigantic potential in international markets, but that even so Brazil could not afford to ignore what was happening in the world.

Lula also said that the country had to get over its negative attitude toward governmental industrial sector policies. The president said that the fact was that Brazil was in need of development projects. He cited the example of South Korea which made heavy investments in new technologies as part of development projects and became an important player in international markets.

In his speech, Lula repeated his campaign promise to invest in technology, saying that the new industrial development council and agency, along with a bill he was sending to Congress for an Innovation Law, were proof that the promise would be kept. "Brazilian development must be anchored on the rock of social inclusion. That is the essential and unifying element of our economic policy, it is the cement of governability," concluded the president.

Translator: Allen Bennett