Manaus Free Zone will have R$ 1.6 billion in new investments

The Manaus Free Trade Zone will receive approximately R$ 1.6 billion in new investments, which could result in the generation of more than 1.6 thousand new jobs. According to the vice-president and minister of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services, Geraldo Alckmin, the value will be destined to new undertakings in the expansion of the installations of existing industries.

The announcement was made this Wednesday (12) during the program Good morning, Ministerproduced by Brazil Communication Company (EBC).

“I want to bring good news about the Manaus Free Trade Zone Superintendence (Suframa): we will have close to R$ 1.6 billion in new investments. In new factories or in the expansion of existing industries”, said Alckmin when highlighting the government’s interest in maintaining the Polo de Manaus, responsible for more than 100 thousand direct jobs in the region.

During the program, Alckmin informed that the signing of the Amazon Biobusiness Center (CBA) management contract is scheduled for July 25th.

“We will sign in Manaus the first management contract with a Social Organization (Fundação Universitas de Estudos Amazônicos), with the intervention of the Technological Research Institute of São Paulo. Our goal is to turn the Amazonian biodiversity into income, employment, companies and businesses”, explained the minister, highlighting the region’s potential for industries such as pharmaceuticals; of cosmetics and food.

business core

The presidential decree that qualified the social organization responsible for managing the CBA was signed in may by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, under the justification of adding value and boosting new businesses from the natural resources found in the Amazon. Until then, the CBA was called the Amazon Biotechnology Center.

Since then, CBA has had a business center operating on two fronts. The first, aimed at research that results in “off-the-shelf” products that make up the center’s portfolio, will be offered to potential investors.

The second front, in partnership with the private sector, will guarantee the supply of raw materials regularly and at competitive prices, providing minimum conditions for the industry to establish itself and for sustainability in the work of the communities directly involved, such as riverside communities and native peoples.

Among the practical examples of CBA activities are the development of catalysts from sludge for the production of biofuels; the use of local inputs and factory residues to obtain bioplastics, cellulose and bacterial membranes that can even be transformed into probiotic drinks, such as kombucha; advanced processes for obtaining freeze-dried açaí, cupuaçu butter and essential oils from orange peel; and production of natural dyes from more than 2,600 species of microorganisms in the region.