São Paulo – The Brazilian defence industry has potential to export more, but that depends on the government. For sales abroad to grow, the new president of the Brazilian Defence and Security Industries Association (Abimde), Sami Youssef Hassuani, said on Thursday (31), after his inauguration, that he would work in partnership with ministries to put into practice existing projects and, then, to sell them to other countries. Youssef said that the Brazilian industry only exports 10% of its potential, but observed that Brazil has attracted other countries interested in learning about its National Defence Strategy.
“It is fundamental to export, but before that there is another task, which is to have a state of the art product. In the defence sector, countries only buy a product if it is very good and is used by the armed forces of the country of origin. Our exports are currently only 10% of what they could be. We have margin for significant growth,” he said.
Hassuani said that one of his priorities ahead of Abimde is to work in partnership with the ministries of Justice, Finance and Planning so that existing projects be put in practice or expanded.
The sector forecasts that the government of Brazil should invest US$ 100 billion over the next 20 years in programmes like the System for Vigilance of Frontiers (Sisfron), the System for Management of the Blue Amazon (Sisgaaz), the Programme for Acquisition of Surface Vessels (Prosuper) and FX-2, for the purchase of fighter aircraft for the Brazilian Air Force.
“We are going to seek support for the resources to be made available for this; we are going to seek the ministries. Projects cannot be discontinued, or else wealth is lost,” said Hassuani. He plans to send to the ministries of Defence and Development, Industry and Foreign Trade a study that is being made with the Industrial Defence Base (BID) regarding the difficulties faced by the sector.
Abimde forecasts show that, if the budget forecasted for the period up to 2020 is executed, exports may double and reach US$ 4 billion. Currently, the country imports US$ 2 billion and exports another US$ 2 billion, according to the organisation. If these exports are reached, the number of work posts may climb from the current 30,000 to 48,000.
The new president at Abimde said that participation of Brazilian companies in fairs abroad should grow in coming years. Currently, the country sends representatives to five fairs a year.
Exports may be far from their potential, but Brazil still attracts interest in the area. Hassuani said that in recent years the country has been receiving visits by foreign military personnel interested in learning more about the domestic projects. These visitors come mainly from Asian nations.
According to Hassuani, there are opportunities for the sector on the domestic market, as Brazil is going to promote the Confederations Cup this year, the World Cup in 2014 and Rio de Janeiro will host the Olympic Games in 2016. These events should need equipment like armoured vehicles, equipment for analysis of chemical agents and anti-aircraft defence. “This may reach billions of reals,” he said.
A grandson of Syrians and Lebanese, Hassuani is also the president of Avibras, which makes armoured vehicles, explosives, missiles, guided missiles and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). At Abimde, he is replacing Carlos Frederico Aguiar, who will become the organisation’s first vice president.
*Translated by Mark Ament
