Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Thursday toured an ethanol plant in Jamaica, where he described biofuels as a key to economic development, news reaching here said.
Brazil is the world's largest producer of biofuel, which Jamaica has showed a huge interest in. Both countries make biofuels from sugarcane.
The industry in Brazil has generated 1.5 million direct jobs and 4.5 million indirect jobs, da Silva said.
Experts have said that biofuels are a potential gold mine because industrialized nations will start buying them as an alternative to gasoline or normal diesel.
Earlier da Silva met Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Miller in the Caribbean island's capital Kingston. The prime minister accompanied da Silva on his tour of the plant.
The trade volume between the two countries stands at 117 million U.S. dollars annually, with Brazil's exports to Jamaica accounting for 116 million.
Da Silva, who is known by his nickname Lula, arrived in Kingston Wednesday night from Nicaragua. His tour has also taken Mexico and Honduras and will end in Panama.
Source: Xinhua
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