Alexandre Rocha
São Paulo – Providing incentives for technical cooperation between the Arabs and South Americans is not the only objective of the international seminar about hydric resources, which started yesterday (29) in Fortaleza (in the northeastern state of Ceará) with specialists from 14 countries in both regions. During the event, which ends tomorrow, the participants intend to identify areas for development of joint scientific and technological projects and possibilities of reciprocal investment.
"The idea is to identify areas for cooperation in which news may be created. Therefore, it is not only a technical partnership between regions that have similar climate characteristics, but also a project to provide incentives for common projects in the scientific and technological areas, including development of products," stated the director of the science and technology department in the Itamaraty (the Brazilian Foreign Office), Antonino Marques Porto.
Although reciprocal investment is the theme of another event, the participants are not discarding the chance of concrete possibilities arising during the seminar in Fortaleza. "When talking about scientific and technological cooperation, it is obvious that this may involve investment, which is always welcome," stated Marques Porto. "There may be investment, adding technological value, both there and here," added the state of Ceará Hydric Resources secretary, Edinardo Rodrigues.
The seminar, organized by the Ministry of Foreign Relations, the government of the state of Ceará, and by the Bank of the Northeast, is also a preparatory event for the summit of Arab and South American heads of state, scheduled for May 2005.
Sectors
Some areas in which cooperation may be possible started being discussed yesterday. As an example, Marques Porto mentioned the use of biotechnology for the development of plants resistant to droughts and pests, topics of one of the panels, in which representatives from Brazil, Paraguay, Chile, Egypt, Algeria, and Syria participated.
"There is great area convergence with regard to cotton and wheat harvests, for example. There are many important studies on both sides that may be joined, generating new opportunities," stated the diplomat.
Rodrigues, in turn, mentioned projects that are being executed or that are being studied in Ceará and that may serve as the basis for partnerships, including the use of fertile ground for irrigated agriculture, the transfer or transposition of water, revitalization of degraded areas, environmental preservation, the fight against desertification, aquiculture, weather forecast, reuse of water, desalinisation of sea water, and management of hydric resources.
"These are actions that focus on life in the semiarid and on the search for sustainable development," stated the secretary. "The climate and soil fertility in this kind of region may be favourable, for example, for the development and cultivation of a series of fruit on irrigated soil," he stated. Among the fruit being successfully cultivated in the state of Ceará are banana, mango, and melon.
Rodrigues stated that Ceará has much to offer in the area of management, with the experience of the Water Resource Management Company of Ceará (Cogerh), established in 1993 so as to administer the management and distribution of water to users in the state, be they homes, industries, or agricultural establishments.
"Ninety percent of the area of the state of Ceará is semiarid. Some 12 years ago, the state was the worst in Brazil with regard to water resources, and we do not have, or did not have, any perennial rivers. The company administers all the waterways and organizes water distribution, by means of participative management with basin committees. The company currently manages 132 strategic barrages, we have a capacity for accumulation of 17 billion cubic metres of water, and 2,600 kilometres of rivers that have been made perennial," he guarantees.
In the state there is also a project for construction of a seawater desalinisation plant, processes known and used in the Arab countries. "The project is being studied. In years to come, the demand may rise enough to provide compensation for the enterprise," stated the secretary. "There are also projects for small hydroelectric centres," he added.
Book
The results of this seminar will be detailed in documents that will be used to establish the minutes for the summit between Arab and South America heads of state. Marques Porto added that the content of the report should be transformed into a book, to be published soon.
According to him, preparation of the minutes for the summit is based on five pillars: Culture – and a seminar about the matter organized two weeks ago in the city of São Paulo, in southeastern Brazil -, science and technology – the theme discussed at the event in Fortaleza -, the information society and digital inclusion, coordination for operation together with international organizations, and promotion of investments and trade.
