Brazil, France Vow to Enhance Defense, Technology Cooperation

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and her French counterpart, Francois Hollande, agreed Thursday to enhance cooperation in defense and high technology.

"France and Brazil maintain cooperation that is unique due to its content, reach and scope, especially in the areas of defense and high-performance technology," said Rousseff.

She said she was pleased with the progress made in the Prosub program, agreed in 2009, for the building of four conventional submarines and a nuclear submarine, and the transfer of technology to the South American country.

She also noted joint efforts in the building of helicopters and French support in the building of a Brazilian stationary satellite for civilian and military use.

"I also want to highlight the agreement for the purchase of a supercomputer and the installation of two research centers in Rio de Janeiro, as well as the technology transfer to build high-performance computers in Brazil," said Rousseff. "Only 10 countries in the world have this capacity."

Hollande said one pillar of the bilateral partnership was economic and trade ties.

"Despite the crisis that affected Europe and Brazil, the exchange has doubled. We have to take our countries' technology to the highest level, focusing on energy, agribusiness, transportation and tourism," Hollande said.

The two leaders affirmed the existence of a "promising scenario" for investment, stressing the participation of French oil firm Total in a partnership led by Brazil's state oil giant Petrobras for the exploitation of Brazil's Libra oilfield. They also highlighted the 1.37 billion-U.S. dollar agreement between French nuclear-energy giant Areva and Brazil's Eletrobras to build a third reactor at Brazil's Angra plant in Rio de Janeiro.


Rousseff said she hoped negotiations on a free trade agreement between the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) and the European Union (EU) would make progress.

She emphasized the convergence of both countries' positions on major international issues, such as protecting online privacy from global spying.

"We want to be partners in the building of a fairer and more democratic world order," said Rousseff. "I want to thank France's support for the Brazil-Germany initiative on the right to privacy in the digital era that was presented before the United Nations."

Hollande said: "We support Rousseff's initiative on cyber security, both for national security as well as for people's privacy, and of course we are going to participate in the Sao Paulo meeting (on digital privacy). We need to have a strong position."

Hollande arrived Thursday in Brazil for a two-day state visit. After his stay in Brasilia, the French president will travel to Sao Paulo where he would meet with Governor Geraldo Alckmin and participate in a business seminar. [via]