Brazil to invest $5 billion in biotech research http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyID=2007-02-08T190636Z_01_N08435538_RTRUKOC_0_US-BRAZIL-BIOTECH.xml
Thu Feb 8, 2007
BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil plans to invest 10 billion reais ($4.76 billion) over the next 10 years into biotechnology research involving renewable energy, agriculture and rain forest pharmaceuticals, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Thursday.
"Brazil has 20 percent of the world's biodiversity and immense forests. The goal is to activate that potential," Lula said at an event to sign a decree outlining the policy.
More than half Brazil's territory is covered by the Amazon rain forest. Governments have long talked of tapping its potential as a source of pharmaceutical discoveries, but bureaucracy and lack of investment have slowed progress.
The funding should come from public and private investment. The government will contribute 60 percent, including funds from the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES), and the private sector will provide the rest, Development Minister Luiz Furlan said.
Furlan did not explain if the private funding was already guaranteed. Lula said he would promote research into rain forest plants, while continuing to fight deforestation. He cited Brazil's ethanol program as proof the country can profit from biotechnology. The aim was for Brazil to become a global leader in biotechnology in the next 10 to 15 years, he said. Brazil is a powerhouse agriculture exporter that became a global biofuels leader by investing in sugar cane ethanol over the last three decades.
The government also recently cleared the way for genetically modified crops, but no new varieties of plants have yet made it through a cumbersome approval process.
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