Brazil is to plow 28 billion dollars into science and technology over the next three years in an effort to boost its competivity, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Monday.
Details of the massive investment will be given Tuesday, Lula told a Brazil-German economic conference in Brasilia.
"We are going to announce un investment of 28 billion dollars in science and technology," Lula told the meeting.
"The sacrifice we made in 2003, 2004 allows me to tell you today that, from 2010, you will see a much better Brazil, a Brazil of many more opportunities," he said.
The plan adds to a surge in education spending Lula's government has already effected, resulting in the building of new universities and technical colleges.
The president said the government was also to present a bill to Congress this month that would encourage technological innovation in industry.
He added that the moves were aimed at narrowing the vast gap between Brazil's rich and poor, and at lifting the prosperity of Brazil's neighbors.
