Lula defends Brazil's protagonism and potential for becoming a green economy

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva participated on Tuesday (November 7) in the opening of the 6th Brazil Investment Forum (6º Fórum Brasil de Investimentos) at the Itamaraty Palace in Brasília. In his speech, Lula highlighted the country's political, social and fiscal stability as well as the government's intention to attract resources for projects referring to a green economy – so as to thus transform Brazil into a global superpower in the field of clean energy.

We are not going to subsidize: we’re going to encourage and say that, if it depends on the will of our government, anyone who wants to invest in producing green cars, green steel, green bicycles, green motorcycles, green meat, does not have to look any further. There’s a place called Brazil where nature ensures that we have competitiveness, sunlight, water and the possibility of becoming the largest producer of clean and renewable energy on Planet Earth”

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil

» High resolution photos (Flickr)

“We are not going to subsidize: we’re going to encourage and say that, if it depends on the will of our government, anyone who wants to invest in producing green cars, green steel, green bicycles, green motorcycles, green meat, does not have to look any further. There’s a place called Brazil where nature ensures that we have competitiveness, sunlight, water and the possibility of becoming the largest producer of clean and renewable energy on Planet Earth,” he said.

According to Lula, the results that these investments may bring in the future depend mainly on the good use of resources and planning by the business class. The government's part, says Lula, is to provide them with the right conditions so that they may achieve good results.

“We will guarantee political stability, social stability, legal stability, fiscal stability. Instead of 600 or so billion dollars in foreign trade, why don't we establish the goal of reaching US$ 1 trillion in foreign trade and pursue it? Fávaro [Minister of Agriculture] often comes to my office and says: ‘President, we established 40 new markets last week.’ Then the following week he says: ‘President, there are already 52 new markets.’ This is because Brazil has gained respectability all over the world,” declared Lula.

FOMENT – According to the president, one of the Brazilian government’s most important tools to boost the country's energy infrastructure – the Brazilian Development Bank (Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social/BNDES) – will be used to fulfill its mission. “BNDES will once again become an investment bank, a development bank – that’s what it was created for. So that we may reestablish the possibility of lending money. Low interest rates, long-term interests, so that the Brazilian industry may become a competitive industry,” he added.

“Brazil offers us everything we need to take advantage of this historic moment – so that we may, definitively, within this energy transition, carry out our own industrial revolution and offer opportunities to others who want to invest here.”

To this end, the president will resume international agendas until the end of the year. At the end of November, Lula will visit Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, to take part in COP28. The trip may also include visits to Qatar and Saudi Arabia before the UN climate conference, as well as an event with Brazilian and German businesspeople in Berlin, on the way back to Brazil.

“We won’t just be talking in these meetings: we're going to present Brazilian projects. Things that are already functioning and that we want to share with Brazilian and foreign businesspeople. We don't need to diminish the state to value the private sector. It is important to remember that the state –– if it does not behave like a businessperson –– may position itself as an inducer of a country’s development,” said Lula.

Tax reform is the cornerstone of a development project. It is generational: its effects will be felt for decades. We must seek social and fiscal stability –– in other words, to not make adjustments based on those who need them, but to reindustrialize Brazil based on new assumptions, because we have unique competitive advantages to attract investments"

Fernando Haddad, Minister of Finance

Brazil’s Minister of Finance Fernando Haddad also argued that tax reform is one of the ways to increase new investments in Brazil. Tax reform is the cornerstone of a development project. It is generational: its effects will be felt for decades. We must seek social and fiscal stability –– in other words, to not make adjustments based on those who need them, but to reindustrialize Brazil based on new assumptions, because we have unique competitive advantages to attract investments, offering clean energy, as President Lula says, to allow green production to happen here,” said Haddad.

To Jorge Viana, president of ApexBrasil – who promoted the event –, the Brazil Investment Forum aims to regain Brazil's global protagonism, a position that was lost over the last few years. At Apex we are trying to take Brazil to the whole world, and with a new concept: it’s from Brazil, it’s sustainable, and it’s for the whole world,” said Viana.

The president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Ilan Goldfajn stressed that Latin America as a whole can be attractive to new investments, but also highlighted Brazil's potential. “Brazil can become a leader in the carbon economy, in food exports, with the potential to feed up to 1 billion people – in addition to the opportunity to become one of the world leaders in the production and distribution of clean energy. The time to invest in Brazil is now”.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Mauro Vieira said he has seen this interest being shown at meetings with authorities from other countries throughout the year. “I have seen in this select audience renewed interest in Brazil as a safe investment destination, and hope for a sustainable future. I have seen this same interest in my meetings and contacts with foreign authorities, in what will certainly be one of the years with the highest level of diplomatic activity in the country's history,” said the minister.