MOSCOW, Feb. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Mario Garnero, founder and chairman of Brasilinvest, Brazil's foremost merchant bank, expressed his conviction that a further emphasis on technology by the Russian Government in the near future would largely strengthen ties with Brazil and other Powerhouse Nations.

The Brazilian business leader commented on Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's speech during the Russia Forum 2012 held last week in Moscow with the participation of more than 800 corporate and government representatives. Putin has also approached the same topics on a widely-read op-ed published last week on the 'Financial Times'. Russia will hold presidential elections next March and opinion polls show Putin as the front-runner.

"I believe Brazil and Russia's competitive advantages in the energy sector should not be seen as an invitation to becoming 'Petrol-States', quite the contrary, the formidable energy assets are a ticket to the future," Garnero pointed out. The Brazilian business leader suggests that increased energy-related national incomes should be directed toward massive investments in Research & Development in the "disruptive sectors" of nanotechnology, new materials, robotics and biotechnology.

Garnero additionally indicated that Brazil has also a lot to offer Russia in terms of biofuels technology. "Even for a country like Russia, that boats some of the world's largest oil output and reserves, it is imperative to move in the direction of more mixed-fuel technologies, both for economic and environmental reasons," he argues. The Chairman of Brasilinvest shows that as Brazil can offer Russia pioneering biofuel technology, there is also a lot it can receive from Russia in terms of the know-how involving different layers of the production chain related to Brazil's newly-found deep water "pre-salt" oil reserves.

Mario Garnero also dismissed comments on the part of some Russia Forum speakers as to Russia no-longer being a member of the BRIC group due to its demographics. "The BRIC meaning today definitely has to do with more than just economic and populational data. Russia's contemporary and future importance in geopolitics and geoconomics definitely make it also a part of the 'Powerhouse Nations group", a concept Mario Garnero has developed to update the classification of those growth countries and energy-rich nations sometimes refered to as "emerging markets".

Contact:
Anamelia Meirelles
55 11 3094 7984
forumamericas@forumamericas.org.br

SOURCE Forum das Americas

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