"Brazil is back on the continent from which it should never have been separated"
Speech by the President of Brazil, Lula da Silva, at the XV meeting of leaders of the Business Forum of the Brics Summit. teleSUR
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00:00 I'd like to salute President Mamafosa, President of South Africa.
00:12 I'd also like to give my greetings to the ministers, the MDP President Kamala Dilma
00:23 Moussa, also the business people here in attendance. And I'd like to, above all, salute the South
00:35 African government for hosting this business forum. I'd like to also say I'll plead them
00:41 for sharing this event with the other leaders of the BRICS countries. I'd also like to thank
00:47 all the business people in attendance, particularly the Business Council Board, which is celebrating
00:54 its 10th anniversary. Establishing partnerships among the private sectors is a very relevant
01:01 dimension for the BRICS, in which gives life and continuity to relations between the countries.
01:09 Since the first summit of heads of state and government, our share in the global economy
01:15 has been increasing. We have surpassed the G7 already, accounting for 32% of the world
01:35 GDP in purchasing power. Priority forecasts indicate that emerging and developing markets
01:43 are the ones that will show the highest growth rates in the coming years. Now, according
01:54 to the IMF, while industrialised countries are expected to grow by an average of 2.7%
02:03 in 2022, dropping to 1.4% in 2024, the projected growth for developing countries is of 4% for
02:11 this period. This shows that the dynamism of the economies in the global south and the
02:18 BRICS is its driving force. Brazil's BRICS, the international foreign stock, increased
02:32 370% between 2029 and 2022, and today almost 400 companies from the bloc operate in Brazil.
02:44 After six years of standing, still, Brazil is going to create quality jobs again, it's
02:52 going to fight poverty again, and will increase the income of Brazilian families. Two weeks
02:58 ago, I presented the new PAC, growth acceleration programme. The plan provides for resuming
03:06 suspended projects, accelerating ongoing projects, and also selecting new projects. It is a comprehensive
03:15 programme with many opportunities that may be of interest of investors from BRICS countries.
03:24 We hope to mobilise $340 billion for modernising our logistics infrastructure with investments
03:34 in motorways, railways, waterways, ports, and airports. We will also give priority to
03:42 the generation of solar and wind power, as well as biomass, ethanol, and biodiesel. We
03:49 have immense potential for generating green hydrogen. We shall establish partnerships between
03:54 government and the business community in all areas, through concessions, public-private
03:59 partnerships, and direct contracts. In order for investment to grow again and drive development,
04:08 we need to ensure more credibility, predictability, and legal certainty, as well as political
04:18 and social certainty for the private sector. For this reason, I have advocated the idea
04:25 of greater financial integration, where we could have a new reference unit which would
04:32 not replace our national currencies. The financing needs of developing countries remains high.
04:45 The lack of a substantial reform from traditional financial institutions limits the volume and
04:54 the credit modes offered by existing banks. The decision of establishing the new development
05:01 bank represented a milestone in effective collaboration among emerging economies. Our
05:08 joint bank must be a global leader in the financing of projects that address the most
05:17 pressing challenges of our time. By diversifying payment sources and local currencies, increasing
05:25 its partner network and its membership, NBB constitutes a strategic platform to promote
05:35 cooperation between developing countries. In this strategy, engagement with the African
05:46 Development Bank will be central to this. At the multilateral level, the BRICS stood
05:53 out for being a force that works in favour of a fairer, more predictable, equitable,
06:00 and global trade. We cannot accept the greed of neocolonialism that imposes trade barriers
06:09 and discriminatory measures under the guise of protecting the environment. As of December,
06:17 Brazil will hold the G20 presidency. The presence of three BRICS members in the G20 troika will
06:26 be a great opportunity for us to move forward on issues of interest to the global South.
06:34 We already have South Africa's participation, but the group's representativeness may be
06:41 increased with the entry of the African Union and other countries of the continent.
07:02 It's just a water break. I've been talking about developing and then suddenly, you know,
07:17 I missed the main important source of life, water. Dear friends, upon taking office as
07:32 President of my country again, I am resuming the guidelines of Brazilian foreign policy.
07:38 We started to rebuild South American integration. We have resumed our partnerships with the
07:43 US, China, and the European Union. We hosted the summit of the Amazon countries. We still
07:52 had to return to Africa. It is unacceptable that in 2022, Brazil's trade with Africa
08:00 has dropped by one third when compared to 2013, when it was almost $30 billion. Trade
08:08 flow with Africa still corresponds to only 3.5% of Brazil's foreign trade. Our trade
08:18 agreement network is still in its infancy. Existing agreements with Southern Africa and
08:25 Egypt date from my second term. Today, over 65% of Mercosur exports to Africa went to
08:34 African countries with which there is no agreement in force. There is plenty of room to grow.
08:41 In addition to a past in the United States, we also share a common vision of the future.
08:47 In my first two terms, the African continent was a priority for Brazil. I have made 12
08:54 trips to Africa and have been to 21 countries. Brazil is back on the continent where it should
09:03 never have left. Africa has vast opportunities and enormous potential for growth. To discuss
09:14 the relaunch of trade with the continent, Brazil brought together the heads of the trade
09:20 promotion sectors of all our representations in African countries here in Johannesburg
09:26 last June. Africa is building an ambitious free trade zone project. 54 countries, 1.3
09:39 billion people with over $3 trillion in GDP in this continent, which is the youngest in
09:47 the world from an age perspective and will be the most popular by 2100, offers countless
09:54 opportunities for Brazilian products such as food and beverages, oil, iron, vehicles
09:59 and steel manufacturers. Africa has 65% of the arable land available in the world, and
10:08 it has a strong vocation for being an agricultural powerhouse with the capacity to feed its people
10:16 and offer global food security solutions. Combining investment in technology, Brazil
10:23 has developed modern tropical agricultural techniques that can be successfully replicated
10:31 in Africa. Through the Brazilian agricultural research corporations, we have turned the
10:36 Cerrado into an area of high agricultural productivity, and we can replicate this experience
10:43 in the African savannah. My government has also resumed public policies to support family
10:52 farming, essential to fight food insecurity and hunger that affects our continent. The
11:01 More Food programme, which I relaunched last June, allows small farmers to have access
11:09 to financing to purchase tractors, tools and harvesters. As in the past, a version of the
11:17 More Food programme for food should be resumed as another aspect of Brazilian self-cooperation.
11:33 Africa is also at the heart of the digital and energy transitions. Internet coverage
11:44 already reaches most of the African population, and digital innovation centres and financial
11:53 technology services companies are multiplying, strengthening the Brazilian health complex,
12:02 strengthening the opportunities for cooperation. With South America, the African continent
12:08 has important oil reserves, such as essential oil, such as lithium, that will play a strategic
12:18 role. So that we do not remain as exporters of primary products, we must make the most
12:24 of this opportunity to forge the integration of our production chains and add value to
12:29 the goods and services that we produce in a sustainable manner. Africa is the region
12:35 of the world that emits the least amount of greenhouse gases. However, this does not mean
12:41 that it does not have to face the most perverse consequences of global warming, such as droughts,
12:47 floods, fires and cyclones. Brazil and many African countries have comprehensive plans
12:56 to renew their energy mixes. We share the responsibility of caring for tropical rainforests
13:04 and preserving biodiversity. We share the common concern of fighting the desertification
13:12 process. Environmental and ecosystem services provided by rainforests to the world, they
13:20 must be paid for in a fair and equitable manner. Social diversity products can generate jobs
13:30 and income and offer alternatives to the predatory exploitation of natural resources. These are
13:43 the pillars of the ecological transition plan that we will launch soon. For our economic
13:50 and productive integration to flourish, it will be necessary to increase sea and air
13:54 connections between the two sides of the Atlantic. It is inexplicable that we do not have direct
14:01 flights between Sao Paulo and Johannesburg, Cairo or Dakar, essential for increasing the
14:07 flow of people, trade and tourism. Therefore, I believe it to be very important the proposal
14:16 made by the BRICS Business Council of establishing a multilateral agreement of air services for
14:22 the group with the main national transport and aviation authorities from the countries.
14:29 Very relevant proposal because the BRICS have a unique chance of shaping the global development
14:35 path. You, business people, you're part of this effort. Together, our countries make
14:41 up a third of the global economy. This relevance will grow with the admission of new full members
14:50 and dialogue partners. Collaboration between the public and private sector is vital for
14:58 harnessing this potential and achieving lasting results. Thank you very much, and good luck.
15:06 [BLANK_AUDIO]