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BRAZIL:
To Ukraine, in Search of Technology Refused by
Rich
Mario
Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO, (IPS) - A Brazilian cabinet
minister is in the Ukraine as part of the
government's mission to seek technology
exchange with nations at a similar level of
development that are more willing to cooperate
than the industrialised North.
The aim of the Brazilian government is to
reduce technological dependence, which is not
only costly in economic terms, but also with
regards to national sovereignty.
One of the goals is to forge ties with other
emerging economies that are willing to
transfer technology without imposing
restrictions like the ones the United States
attempted to introduce in a contract for using
the Alcantara Launch Base.
The Alcantara base in northern Brazil will
allow this country to gain a share of the
international satellite launch market,
Minister of Science and Technology Roberto
Amaral told IPS in an interview just before he
set out on a three-day visit to the Ukraine on
Wednesday.
Amaral is a 62-year-old lawyer and political
scientist who belonged to underground leftist
groups opposed to Brazil's 1964- 1985 military
dictatorship, and later helped re-organise the
Brazilian Socialist Party, of which he is now
vice-president.
Q: What significance does the Ukraine have for
Brazil's technological development?
A: This visit to the Ukraine is aimed at
broadening technology exchanges, a priority of
Brazil's new foreign policy, especially in the
field of aerospace. We will also discuss
cooperation in energy, informatics and
biodiversity.
In addition, Brazil is interested in acquiring
Ukrainian technology for producing gas
turbines, which would enable us to join the
club of countries capable of producing any
kind of turbine, including airplane turbines.
That would be of major significance to our
economy, as we could increase our generation
of thermoelectricity using natural gas.
Q: How would you describe the government of
(leftist President) Luiz Inácio Lula da
Silva's new foreign policy in the field of
technology?
A: The strategy is to intensify cooperation
with countries at a similar level of
development, like China, India, Russia, South
Africa and the Ukraine, all of which, however,
are more advanced than us in one area or
another, and are willing to transfer
technology, unlike the developed world, which
refuses to do so.
We must seek out alternatives. For example,
Brazil can produce its own aerospace
technology, but it is a slow process, which
could be accelerated through cooperation. In
January 2002, we signed an agreement with the
Ukraine on cooperation for the peaceful uses
of outer space, as well as a memorandum
between our space agencies for the use of
Ukrainian carrier rockets at the Alcantara
launch centre.
Now we will be discussing details for a joint
commercial launcher programme using Ukrainian
Cyclone-4 booster rockets to be launched from
the Alcantara base, which will save the
Ukraine 30 percent on the cost of previous
launches. That will require investments by
both countries, but it is an undertaking of
mutual benefit, and without any restrictions
that would violate the sovereignty of either
country.
Q: The agreement differs from the contract
with the United States, which was rejected by
broad sectors in Brazil, including Congress?
A: Yes, the contract with the United States
will be withdrawn, in order to go back and
negotiate an accord that is different from the
one approved by the previous Brazilian
administration. We will propose new
foundations for the agreement, which respect
our sovereignty, and we will use the accord
with the Ukraine as a model.
In the original contract, Washington imposed
many restrictions to safeguard its technology
in Alcantara. It also wanted, for example, to
prohibit Brazil from using the revenues
obtained from the lease to invest in its
aerospace industry -- an unacceptable
restriction. That is one indication of the
need for alternatives, for creating our own
development process, in cooperation with
countries that share similar interests.
Q: Is that also the case with digital TV?
A: Yes, we want to develop our own system
(rather than choosing from the three available
-- U.S., European and Japanese -- standards).
We are starting to negotiate an alliance with
China and other countries, but no accord has
yet been drawn up. It is a commercial
question, and a broader market, as in the case
of Brazil added to the rest of Latin America,
offers the project greater potential. For that
reason, if a system is designed jointly with
other countries, like China, we will have a
much more competitive project.
Q: What will Brazil present at the coming
World Summit of the Information Society?
A: We have a programme for digital inclusion,
and another on free software development. But
we are still lagging in the dissemination of
information technology, due to the great
social inequality in our country.
In Brasilia (the capital), for instance, we
have indicators on average computer use and
access to Internet that few countries can
boast. But outside of the big urban centres,
among the poor, the reality is quite
different.
That gap reflects the high level of
socioeconomic inequality. To narrow it, the
Ministry of Science and Technology is
promoting the installation of computers in all
of Brazil's public schools, and the Ministry
of Communication is doing the same in the post
offices, in order for all of the country's
municipalities to be connected to the
worldwide web.
Q: Is the Lula administration worried about
''brain drain''?
A: Of course. Many Brazilian researchers are
living abroad. But we will reduce that loss by
creating conditions for them to say in the
country, as part of a joint effort by the
ministries of Science and Technology, and
Education.
We are also implementing a plan in association
with the universities and state governments,
to create poles of development. One example of
that effort is the Neuroscience Pole that we
are setting up in Natal (the capital of the
impoverished northeastern state of Rio Grande
do Norte), which will draw back Brazilian
researchers now living overseas. The
conditions in Natal, like the existence of a
good primatology centre and a federal
university, facilitate the creation of a pole
of development there.
Q: What are the top priorities of your
ministry?
A: The first is the development of human
resources, which is fundamental in science.
We're doing well on that front. For example,
the number of doctors has risen quickly.
Around 6,000 now graduate every year, and we
want to increase that number to 10,000 within
the next four years.
Q: How do you see the prospects for scientific
and technological development in Brazil?
A: In biotechnology we have created the
Proteoma Network, the second phase of the
study of the genome. (Brazil has already
deciphered the DNA map of several bacteria and
plants that are important to agriculture, and
of several types of cancer in human beings).
We are also working on closer partnerships
between universities and the business
community, with a network of more than 100
institutions of higher learning.
One successful example of that is in the field
of aerospace, which depended on state
protection, since we lacked a private market
in that area. Now we have incorporated the
private sector, identifying the needs of
companies, for products, for greater know- how
in a specific activity, and making contact
with the universities that can address that
demand. It is difficult, but we have to move
from a mentality of ''classic capital'' to one
of risk capital, which is inherent to the
search for new technologies.
Q: President Lula promised to double public
investment in science and technology.
A: We will go from the equivalent of one to
two percent of Gross Domestic Product by 2006,
which is the average spent by countries in the
industrialised world, although we need more to
narrow the gap.
But the state has limitations, and private
sector participation in science and technology
is very low, accounting for less than 20
percent, compared to over 80 percent in rich
countries. What is lacking is a policy of
incentives and of financing at lower interest
rates.
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