The minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), astronaut Marcos Pontes, met last Tuesday (6) executives from Avibras Aerospace Industry. With 60 years of experience, the company believes in the partnership among the public sector, industry and academia to develop the space market of the country. Part of the board of directors joined the meeting remotely and the company’s Director of Institutional Relations, Eduardo Leonetti, was present at the ministry.

During his speech, Leonetti presented the Program of Incentive to the Brazilian Space Market – PRO ESPAÇO. According to him, the project is inspired by PROINFA Eólica which presented a set of initiatives in the sector that contributed to Brazilian 7^th position in the global rank of installed capacity of production and wind energy.

PRO ESPAÇO suggests a virtuous cycle with qualification, increase of competitiveness and access to the market. Predictability with the creation of long-term market. Improvement in economy with the consolidation of the national industry and generation of jobs, technology domain and innovation. As well as the promotion of sustainability with the demand of products and services that generate benefits to the society.

Among the challenges of the sector, the company mentioned budget restrictions, lack of financing, lack of organised demand, the need of State programs, and others. “We want to increase the competitiveness of Brazilian industry, ensure the domain of critical technologies, reduce the dependence of foreign services and create a sustainable market”, stated Leonetti.

Avibras’ CEO João Brasil Carvalho Leite made sure to reinforce that PRO ESPAÇO is a project of the industry. “We contemplate actions in partnership with the government, but this is a private proposal. There is an enormous potential in the aerospace sector. Such projects expand our capability to research and develop in a fantastic manner”, Leite declared.

For MCTI minister, Avibras’ proposition came in the right time. “We are living a unique moment in the Brazilian space program. Programs such as PRO ESPAÇO are in accordance with our proposal, which is the strengthening of an entire production chain. I always say that a project cannot move forward if it solely relies on the public sector. There is the need for private investments in partnerships”, assessed Pontes who also pointed out the similarity of the project with the one the government has been working in the Brazilian space program.

“This is what we are searching for. The combination of Space Centre, launching structure, and development of a productive chain of launching vehicles for satellites or payloads that can be developed”, affirmed.

At the meeting, the Secretary of Financial and Project Structures of MCTI, Marcelo Meirelles, reminded that although the proposition is aligned with government planning, it is necessary to have demands. “We have several instruments that can help this project, but it is extremely important that the company has an answer for the financing need of a product or service. And most importantly, to whom it is going to sell”, he questioned.

Also at the meeting, MCTI general coordinator of Strategic Technologies, Ricardo Mangrich, affirmed that the government has been negotiating with the National Congress and Ministry of Economy to improve legal security and update the legislation of the sector to stimulate investments of the private sector. “We are fully aligned in this sense so the aerospace sector does not rely so much on public budgets. Our intention is to work simultaneously in three actions. The modernization of regulatory matters, mapping of existing initiatives and strategies of what we truly desire for the future”, he concluded.

 

Source: Gov.br