Wilson Lima defends the advantage of the Free Zone at an event with businessmen from the South and Southeast

government of amazon

Governor reaffirmed that there is no other model more effective than the ZFM for the protection of the Amazon rainforest

Rio de Janeiro – RJ) – Governor Wilson Lima said, this Friday (30th), at the 22nd LIDE Business Forum, in Rio de Janeiro, that the state of Amazonas is incomparable for having an effective model for protecting the Amazon: the Manaus Free Trade Zone (ZFM) . And for that reason, he returned to defend the maintenance of the constitutional rights of the model in the tax reform.

“When I say incomparable, that doesn’t mean it’s better. It is incomparable because it is unique, it is singular”

, said the governor to businessmen from the South and Southeast gathered at the forum. And he added that the Amazon is an asset of Brazil and that the country needs to have this perception.

“The people of Amazonas are not asking for privileges. What we are asking for is recognition for what we have been doing in terms of preserving the greatest asset that Brazil has and that the whole world covets. Hence the importance of preserving this economic model within the scope of tax reform”

highlighted the governor, referring to the Free Zone of Manaus.

Wilson Lima highlighted that you cannot preserve the forest with poverty. And he mentioned that the World Bank released a study that shows the importance of strengthening economic models that help preserve biomes such as the Amazon.

Considered the most representative business meeting in Brazil, the event brings together presidents and vice presidents of the country’s largest companies and public authorities, from all spheres, for a national agenda of debates on socioeconomic development, management, public policies and sustainability.

For three days, June 28, 29 and 30, debates centered on the theme “The Economic Future of Brazil”. Wilson Lima spoke on the panel “Equality and Regional Growth as Factors of Peace and Development”, which was also attended by the governor of Rio de Janeiro and coordinator of Commerce for Southeast Governors, Claudio Castro; the governor of Rio Grande do Sul and coordinator of the Consortium of Governors of the South, Eduardo Leite; and the governor of Rio Grande do Norte, Fátima Bezerra. The moderation was done by the president of LIDE Content, Carlos José Marques.

Wilson Lima highlighted that it is no longer possible to talk about the economy without talking about policies to protect the Amazon, including its fauna, flora and the people who live there. And he invited those present to get to know and join the Amazon in defending the biome. For him, the forest should be seen by Brazilians as a wealth of the country and not just of a single state since, according to the World Bank, the standing forest has an estimated value of R$ 1.5 trillion.

In addition, the governor of Amazonas explained that the approximately 500,000 jobs, direct and indirect, generated in the Industrial Pole of the capital, fix workers in the city who would be earning their livelihood by extracting, in a disorderly and illegal way, natural resources, such as wood and gold. This, according to him, means that the territory of Amazonas, with more than 1.5 million square kilometers, maintains 97% of the forest preserved.

“The standing forest is worth BRL 1.5 trillion and we want recognition for that. And the state of Amazonas needs to be recognized for this. I am coming here to make an appeal for you to get to know the forest, for you to invest in the Amazon”

said the governor, in defending that help in the preservation of the Amazon ceases to be just rhetoric.

LIDE in USA

In early May, Governor Wilson Lima was at the Lide Brazil Investment Forum in New York (USA), where he participated in the Panel Challenges of the Great Reforms and the attractiveness of Brazil for new international investments. On the occasion, he defended the Free Zone and the protection of forests and their peoples, as he also did on trips to Mexico and Austria, in the first half of 2023.

*With information from the Advice

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