Perillo calls for unity among leaders of the Midwest.

Goiás 247_ Governor Marconi Perillo participated this Tuesday morning in the Competitive Midwest project, organized by the Federation of Industries of the State of Goiás (Fieg) and the Federation of Agriculture and Livestock of Goiás (Faeg), through an initiative of the National Confederation of Industry (CNI) and the Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil (CNA). The project is based on the results of research that identifies the main bottlenecks in the region and also points to interventions to solve them.

After hearing explanations from the president of Fieg, Pedro Alves de Oliveira, and Faeg, José Mário Schreiner, the governor suggested a meeting with the other governors of the Central-West region, along with the presidents of CNA and CNI, to join forces in the search for solutions, and said he would organize the meeting later that day. “I believe a practical step would be a quick meeting with the governors of the Central-West region to learn about this study, along with their federation presidents, to discuss it with us and join our efforts in finding solutions, especially those that depend on the Federal Government,” he noted.

Perillo praised the initiative that culminated in the Competitive Midwest project, and emphasized that the region is currently the most important in the country in terms of food production, job creation, exports, and GDP growth. He believes that the solution to the obstacles that still hinder greater growth in the Midwest must be built collaboratively between the federal, state, and municipal governments, along with the private sector, through concessions.

“This study points to the need for the Federal Government to duplicate, through concession or resources from the General Budget of the Union, the Belém-Brasília highway, to operationalize the North-South Railway, to build the railway for the integration of the Central-West region; the one that will connect the North-South Railway to Ilhéus, in Bahia; the railway that will connect the North-South Railway, in the city of Uruaçu, to Rio de Janeiro, crossing Goiás and Minas Gerais, in addition to the Anápolis cargo airport that we are building,” he stated.

The politician highlighted the commitment of the Goiás government to the development of the Central-West region and the work that has been done to eliminate the barriers that hinder the region's growth. “We have an agreement between the business forum and the government, through the creation of the Transportation Fund, whose resources are being used to improve all our highways, especially those that were in very poor condition. This agreement foresees the reconstruction of more than 5 kilometers of highways in four years of government; the maintenance and conservation of highways, in addition to the construction, duplication and completion of new highways; improvements and construction of more than 30 airports, construction of bridges and the Anápolis International Airport, which this year will already have two kilometers of runway completed,” he informed.

The governor also highlighted the investment that has been made in education through the 25 pillars of the Pact for Education, alluded to the advances in education in Goiás in the Ideb numbers, and stressed that the goal for this year is to reach 3rd place in the index that measures the performance of High School.

“This region is responsible for approximately 50% of the national food production. It has a herd of approximately 70 million head of cattle and will produce almost 90 million tons of food in the 2012/2013 harvest, and should reach approximately 100 million tons in the 2013/2014 harvest. It has been responsible for the main job surpluses in the country. In a time of crisis, of GDP contraction, this region needs stimulus in energy, highways, railways, infrastructure in general, logistics, so that Brazil can benefit from it,” analyzed Marconi.