Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and French President Nicolas Sarkozy signed on Tuesday an agreement for the building in Brazil of five submarines, including one nuclear-propelled, and 50 helicopters for the Brazilian Armed Forces with French technology.
As part of the French-Brazilian Strategic Partnership's Action Plan, the two countries also signed agreements in the aerospace, educational and biodiversity areas. The two countries also agreed to stimulate the integration between Brazil and neighboring French Guyana, which includes the construction of a bridge over the Oiapoque River, an old project.
"The only possibility of French Guyana developing itself is by connecting itself to this powerful nation that Brazil is," said President Sarkozy at a press conference that followed the agreements' signing.
A consortium of Brazilian Helibras and French Eurocopter will build the 50 helicopters in Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro states. The first batch of helicopters will be delivered to the Brazilian military in 2010.
The agreement for the construction of the four conventional Scorpene submarines and the nuclear-propelled one includes the construction of a shipyard and a naval military base in Brazil.
"The agreement will allow our navy to have top-notch equipment to better patrol our extensive coast," said President Lula, adding that the agreement's main goal is the protection of Brazil's deep-water offshore oil fields.
Source:Xinhua
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