In the context of the country’s new industrial policyin force since January, the federal government and companies in the health economic-industrial complex announced joint investments totaling R$57.4 billion. The announcement was made at the Planalto Palace, in Brasília, this Wednesday (14).
“The government takes care of the industry, the people, the country, and the sovereignty of this country. This country has everything it needs to be great. Rest assured that the SUS will continue to improve and we will be able to be proud to say that we are Brazilians and that we never give up,” declared President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva during the ceremony.
In addition, new goals were defined for the sector, approved during a meeting of the National Council for Industrial Development (CNDI), reactivated last month by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The main one is the increase in national production in the area of medicines and health products, aiming to reduce dependence on imports, which could reach 70% of the country’s needs in nine years, according to the vice president and minister of Development, Industry and Commerce, Geraldo Alckmin.
“Today, Mission 2 of the New Industry Brazil was presented, which [envolve] the health industrial complex. At the CNDI meeting earlier, the goals were approved. So, we started from a basic number [atual] 45% of the country’s production of health products. The goal is to reach 50% by 2026. Then, in 2033, 70% [de produção nacional]”, detailed Alckmin.
Head of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), Luciana Santos highlighted the importance of expanding national production in the health area as a national sovereignty strategy.
“We felt firsthand how much dependence meant [internacional]mainly in [pandemia de] covid. Even with our strength in vaccine production, we had to import a lot because of the scale to serve the people”, he exemplified.
Investments
In terms of investments, the health industry has received public funding of R$16.4 billion, according to the government. R$8.9 billion comes from the Health Growth Acceleration Program (PAC), R$4 billion from the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) and R$3.5 billion from the Studies and Projects Financing Agency (Finep), a federal agency linked to the MCTI. These amounts already include the contracts signed during the meeting.
Added to this volume are R$39.5 billion in private investments from companies in the sector, which include companies in the medical and pharmaceutical industries.
Of this total, R$33.5 billion are contributions from Grupo FarmaBrasil, Interfarma and Sindusfarma, planned between 2024 and 2026, which will finance new industrial plants and the expansion of national production of inputs.
Another R$6 billion will go to the Health Biotechnology Industrial Complex (CIBS/Santa Cruz and Fiocruz) to expand the supply of vaccines and biopharmaceuticals. The estimated production is 120 million vials per year – to primarily meet the demands of the population through the Unified Health System (SUS).
The health sector represents around 9% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which reflects the size of the Brazilian economy, highlighted BNDES president Aloízio Mercadante.
“It is a fundamental sector that generates a lot of technological innovation, in addition to playing a decisive role in the survival and quality of life of the population,” he said. Mercadante advocated an expansion of the health sector, which currently accounts for 2% of the manufacturing industry.
“It’s not enough, it has to be more. We have a trade deficit of US$14.6 billion. We import US$17.1 billion and only export US$2.5 billion. In other words, if we strengthen this sector, we save foreign currency, create jobs, generate more competitiveness and start exporting,” he noted.
One of the drivers for new investments should be tax reform, said Health Minister Nísia Trindade during the meeting.
“Another very important aspect of the tax reform, which is still going to the Senate, as we know, is to establish a 100% tax relief on public purchases in the health sector, and a 60% reduction in the basic tax rate in the area of medicines,” he said.
Industry advancement
CEO of the FarmaBrasil Group, which represents the pharmaceutical sector, Reginaldo Arcuri stated that the industrial policies of Lula’s previous governments resulted in six of the country’s 10 largest pharmaceutical companies becoming national over the last 20 years.
“In all these policies, the health sector and specifically the production of medicines stood out as strategic sectors and future importers,” he said. He highlighted that the FarmaBrasil Group will invest around R$20 billion in new factories, expansions, equipment and research and development in the coming years.
Arcuri also defended legal certainty and predictability in public policies, since the pharmaceutical sector depends on long development processes.
“To do this, we need to update the rules at the Chamber for the Regulation of the Medication Market (Cemed). Another factor, already mentioned, is that we urgently solve the problems faced by Anvisa in carrying out its actions. It is essential to maintain the agency’s high level of quality in analyzing the safety and efficacy of medications,” he noted.
New Industry Brazil
Also during today’s event in Brasília, the government announced an extra increase of R$42.7 billion for the Plano Mais Produção (P+P), coordinated by BNDES and which finances industrial policy.
With this, the total sum increases to R$342.7 billion, with resources from BNDES, Finep and the Brazilian Company for Industrial Research and Innovation (Embrapii), in addition to reinforcement in credit lines from Banco do Nordeste (BNB), with R$16.7 billion, and Banco da Amazônia (Basa), with another R$14.4 billion.
The New Brazilian Industry (NIB), as the government policy was named, foresees the use of public resources to attract private investment. Among the measures, the creation of special credit lines, subsidies and regulatory and intellectual property actions, as well as a public works and procurement policy, with incentives for local content to stimulate the productive sector in favor of the country’s development, stand out.
Public policy has been divided into missions, which actually represent specific strategic sectors. Mission 1 is agribusiness, Mission 2 is the health-industrial complex, Mission 3 covers the infrastructure sector, Mission 4 involves digital transformation, Mission 5 represents the ecological transition segment, and Mission 6, the defense industry.
