Brazil to rebuild its weapons industry

Israel, Brazil sign deal for joint R&D. Main target of agreement is accomplishment, promotion and support of corporate projects of industrial research and development between companies, corporations and entities from both countries. IEICI Published: 03.15.07, 07:26 / Israel Money. Israel and Brazil recently signed a bilateral agreement for industrial research and development in the private sector. The document was signed in Brasilia by Brazilian Minister of Development, Industry and Trade, Luiz Fernando Furlan, and by the Ambassador of Israel in Brazil, Tzipora Rimon. The main target of this agreement is the accomplishment, the promotion and the support of corporate projects of industrial research and development between companies, corporations and entities from both countries, besides promoting the competition in the industrial sector. In the framework of this agreement, Brazil and Israel will organize meetings that will allow the entities to evaluate together the cooperation opportunities. The idea is to put in the global market through joint projects, products and proceedings based on innovative technology in order to improve their commercialization. Brazil and Israel started to discuss this agreement when the current Israeli prime minister, then minister of industry, trade and labor, Ehud Olmert, visited Brazil in March, 2005. This agreement was elaborated during the visits to Israel of the Minister of Foreign Relations of Brazil Celso Amorim and Luiz Fernando Furlan that took place at the same year. The chief-scientist at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor of Israel, Prof Eli Opper also promoted this agreement during his visit to Brazil in May, 2006. Second biggest commercial partner in Americas. Considered as a center of excellence in technology, research, telecommunication, biotechnology, nanotechnology, agro-technology and other areas, Israel had already made similar agreements with other countries around the world like the United States, England, Canada and Singapore. Since the year 2000 until today the high-tech industry in Israel is a major component of the industrial exportation from Israel. In 2006 the high-tech sector in Israel was almost 50 percent of the exportation of industrial products from Israel, comprised from products like computing equipment, electrical components, aircraft, electrical communication equipment, equipment for control and supervision, pharmaceutical products and others. The agreement will be enforced on the dates of the notification of the parts when the legal internal procedures in each side will be finished and it will be implemented in the areas that Israel and Brazil find common interests. This new agreement represents one more advance in the economic relations between the two countries. Brazil is today the second biggest commercial partner of Israel in the Americas. The bilateral trade between Israel and Brazil increased from $449 millions in 2002 to $746 millions in 2006. Nowadays, Israel and the Mercosul countries are negotiating on a Free Trade Area Agreement which will allow the increment of the commercial perspectives between Brazil and Israel.