Maravi

Chavez announces US$1bn development plan

Chavez announces US$1bn development plan
By Larry Moonze in Havana, Cuba
Sunday June 15, 2008 [04:00]

VENEZUELAN President Hugo Chavez has announced an ambitious US$1 billion production development plan starting this year. And President Chavez said he intended to establish bilateral relations with the new US leader after the November presidential elections. President Chavez further disclosed that national oil income in 2008 would hit US$75 billion.

In a meeting with Venezuelan economic stakeholders on Wednesday dubbed “Relaunching production: Investing in Venezuela” at Hotel Alba Caracas, President Chavez said the government would inject US$500 million from a recently imposed tax on sudden profit and another US $500 million from a Chinese-Venezuelan fund that hold about US$6 billion.

He said the first amount from the National Development Fund (Foden) would be done this year while that from the Chinese Strategic Fund would be included by 2009.
“This strategic productive promotion will tackle several fields such as food,
manufacturing, industry, public works, machineries, capital goods and all those fields labelled as strategic,” President Chavez said, according to the state news agency - ABN. “Invest what is necessary, there must be no more squandering, no more waste but efficiency in investment.”

The financing is to be strictly for the development of public and private projects, joint ventures and cooperatives in order to consolidate their fixed assets, working capital, machineries and equipments.

President Chavez said the idea was that businessmen and state create new models of social investment companies especially joint ventures.

He invited private banks to participate by supporting the investors in order to establish ideal conditions. President Chavez said he favoured, among vital areas, building the generation of alternative energy such as solar and wind power.

“I want this fund to motivate the businessmen from the biggest to the small businessmen in order to create consortiums,” he said. “Join and create important companies, make strategic alliances with the state.”

Backed by high oil prices, President Chavez said Venezuela’s earning from petroleum would reach US$75 billion.

“What that means is that the oil income for the current year will be almost double Venezuela’s foreign debt,” he said. “Do your sums to see the strength of our economy. There are countries whose foreign debt represents five years of their gross domestic product.

It is not our case. Just with our oil income if we wish to, we will not of course, we would pay all our foreign debt in a year.”

However, President Chavez cautioned that Venezuela was not self-sufficient.
He said what he was trying to explain was that it was good to “remark our strength in order not to receive fairy tales”.

“Some people are mistaken and are saying that Venezuela is crashing into a crisis,” said President Chavez. “Not at all, it is now when Venezuela begins to walk, as Mao Se Tung said, with its own feet.”

On the Washington-Caracas relations, President Chavez announced he would go for smoothening of relations with the next US President.

He said he would talk with the next United States leader but on equal terms so as to chart a new direction of the bilateral ties between the two countries.
President Chavez said among the key issues, he would like to discuss the production of ethanol from agricultural products.

“This wrong policy carried out by the United States of using most of the corn maize harvest for the production of this new fuel bio-fuel instead of using that produce for food is horrible,” said

President Chavez. “ It’s a wrong decision and one of the main reasons of the food price increase in the world. It is something criminal.”
President Chavez also warned about the intentions of Europe to adopt the same policy to produce alternative energy.`

Labels: CHAVEZ, DEVELOPMENT, VENEZUELA

posted by MrK @ 6:20 PM