Ana Paula Marra
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - Yesterday (4), in Canto do Buriti, in the state of Piauí, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva reaffirmed that one of his desires "is to enable the Northeast and North of the country to have the same development opportunity that the South and Southeast regions had 60 years ago."

Prior to returning to Brasília, Lula announced that new projects will be developed in the Northeast in the near future. He cited the construction of the Transnortheastern railway, which he said "will help to improve the face of the Brazilian Northeast." The project will cost US$ 1.7 billion (R$ 4 billion) and already has resources assured by the National Economic and Social Development Bank (BNDES), Constitutional funds, and entrepreneurs.

Other important projects that will soon be announced for the Northeast are the construction of the BR-101 coastal highway, which will connect Rio Grande do Norte and Bahia, and the construction of a refinery in the state of Pernambuco. The revitalization of the São Francisco River is also one of the priorities of his Administration, Lula said.

The President also visited the Santa Clara community castor bean production unit, in Canto do Buriti. There, around 700 families of rural producers execute one of the projects developed in the state by the Brazil Ecodiesel group. The goal of the group is to produce biodiesel fuel from castor beans in rural community nuclei.

Translation: David Silberstein