Agência Brasil*
Davos (Switzerland) – The Brazilian government is willing to transfer bio-diesel technology to poorer countries, said president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva last Friday (26) in Davos, Switzerland. During his address at the World Economic Forum, Lula suggested that rich countries should finance bio-diesel projects in developing countries as a means of reducing global inequality.
"Bio-diesel generates employment, income and development, and the Brazilian program could be an example to be implemented in African and Central American countries, with financing from wealthy countries," Lula said.
Lula mentioned that instead of producing ethanol out of corn, for instance, the United States should finance bio-diesel projects in poor countries, which could also be cheaper.
Professor Mário Ferreira Presser, who coordinates the Economic Diplomacy Course at the University of Campinas (Unicamp), in the southeastern Brazilian state of São Paulo, told Agência Brasil that bio-diesel projects "have many attractive aspects: they would benefit Africans, Europeans and Brazilians. These projects would address the issues of climate and poverty, and liberate the sugar and alcohol markets."
"The strategy of Brazilian businessmen consists of showing that they will not single-handedly become major ethanol producers, but rather that many other developing countries may benefit from this market opening," says Professor Presser.
"The World Bank has also shown enthusiasm regarding the issue. Since no one knows exactly how to deal with the African problem, turning the continent into a producer of a commodity for which there is a guaranteed demand would be a tremendous step forward, and a great achievement for Brazil," according to Mário Presser.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
