LatinNews Daily - 23 January 2024

*Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has announced a programme which aims to revitalise the country’s stagnant industrial sector. The government will invest R$300bn (US$60.1bn) in the sector from 2024-2026. The specific projects to be funded will be decided by the state-owned development bank (BNDES); Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos (Finep), a research funding authority overseen by the ministry of science, technology & innovation; and Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa e Inovação Industrial (Embrapii), a government body dedicated to research and innovation in the industrial sector, which is overseen by several ministries. According to a government press release, the programme will have six key aims: to boost the mechanisation of agro-industrial supply chains; to manufacture more pharmaceutical and medical products; to improve urban infrastructure and make public transport more sustainable; to further digitalise the national economy and produce more digital components, such as semiconductors; to decarbonise the energy sector by boosting biofuel and renewable energy production; and to manufacture more military equipment and vehicles.