Brazils Lula Starts Europe Tour To Tout Biofuels, Seek Investment
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva arrived in Finland Sunday on the first leg of his tour of Scandinavia and Spain to attract investment for infrastructure projects and widen biofuel (biobrændsel – ethanol) exports.
On Monday, Lula met his Finnish counterpart Tarja Halonen, as well as Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen. Some 50 industrialists are accompanying Lula, who is due to go on to Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo and finally Madrid.
Sweden, Finland and Norway already buy Brazilian sugar cane-based ethanol. Finland and Norway appear to be set to raising ethanol imports while Sweden is engaged in efforts to convert all vehicles to run on biofuels by 2020.
Brazil is expected to sign biofuel agreements with Sweden and Denmark. Brazil and Finland Monday signed a memorandum of understanding on an initiative under the Kyoto Protocol aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries.
Before leaving for Spain, Silva will attend a peace seminar in Norway to discuss the reconstruction of Haiti and the Middle East conflict.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
