In a meeting with the Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Fávaro, the president spoke about PAC for the sector
Minister Carlos Fávaro (Agriculture) said on Tuesday (27.Feb.2024) that the president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) will resume work with entrepreneurs from different agribusiness sectors. The idea is that segments can directly access the Chief Executive to talk and present demands.
“At the end of last year, we started bringing, here at the Palace [do Planalto], to talk to him, claim, exchange ideas. He has already asked to resume this, there are already 3 sectors of the agricultural economy that want visits with the president”, declared the minister in an interview with journalists after a meeting with Lula.
“He [Lula] Do you want me to make an appointment at Granja do Torto? [residência oficial da Presidência da República]so that, at the end of the work meeting, there can be a barbecue, he approaches [dos empresários]”, he added.
Among the sectors that have already requested an audience with the president are fruit growing, which is going through a good economic phase, coffee and cotton.
At the end of last year, Lula and Fávaro had already received businesspeople and associations from the animal protein sector at Planalto. Furthermore, during his state visit to China in March 2023, the president took around 100 Brazilian agricultural businesspeople to the Asian country, which is the largest trading partner and main importer of Brazilian agricultural products.
The head of Agriculture stated that Lula has a good relationship with agribusiness entrepreneurs and that the government's results in the sector speak for themselves.
“They inserted it into the minds of producers that President Lula was uncertain, that he could tax exports, bring legal uncertainty in the field. They forgot who Lula was governing in the 1st and 2nd governments. The fact is that 1 year of government has already come, the biggest Safra Plan in history, opening of markets breaking all-time records, [foram] 78 new markets open in 2023 and, now, February isn't even over and the 1st two months of this year is a record for market opening [para o agro]”, he stated.
In post on social media held on Tuesday (Feb 27), Lula spoke about the points discussed at the meeting. “We talk about the sector's strategic partnerships with the African continent as a result of the visit to the African Union countries, future actions to boost agricultural sectors, as well as launches of the new PAC [Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento] for agriculture. The work of the federal government continues“, he wrote.
Fávaro was asked about the support of agribusiness sectors for former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), who, on February 25, gathered supporters at a demonstration in São Paulo, which takes place amid advances in Federal Police investigations investigating whether the former president tried to carry out a coup d'état in the country. .
“I didn't see any membership [do agro], I think everyone is working, harvesting. During the harvest period, everyone was in the fields, in the fields, they weren't worried about this type of manifestation, no“, he said.
agricultural PAC
Lula should also organize a schedule of launches of works and projects aimed at agribusiness in states such as Goiás, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul and Rio Grande do Sul, in the coming months.
The government called these investments agricultural PAC, in reference to the Growth Acceleration Program. Among the initiatives is the creation of a national meteorology network, in response to climate change, through the modernization of stations, the exchange of analogue equipment for digital and the use of artificial intelligence.
African market
The Minister of Agriculture announced a trade mission to Africa, which should take place in April. The measure is an offshoot of Lula's last visit to the continent, in February. He cited the case of Nigeria, with which Brazil already had a trade flow of more than US$10 billion, around a decade ago, and currently stands at US$1.7 billion.
Help to the sector
Another topic mentioned by the minister to journalists is the development of a plan to help agricultural sectors avoid problems in this year's harvest, due to adverse weather conditions, increased production costs and high stocks on the international market.
According to Fávaro, the Ministry of Finance team is developing a proposal, which should include soybean, corn, cattle and dairy farming producers, who have been the most affected.
Extension of loans and opening of lines of credit for working capital, with a grace period of 2 years, are among the measures being studied by the government to alleviate the most affected sectors. “So, no one needs to have the uncertainty of falling into default, of having their name negative, of having to seek more drastic measures such as judicial recovery. It's preventive”, he stated.
With information from Brazil Agency.
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