MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Lula da Silva predicts Brazil will become world power in ten years

If “less lucky” the world’s fifth economy

President Lula da Silva predicts that Brazil in the near future will be in the short list of the world’s largest economies, probable in third or fourth position, and if “less lucky” at the most ranked fifth.

“In ten to fifteen years this country should be the world’s third or fourth economy, and if we are not lucky, the fifth economy”, said Lula da Silva in a speech in Rio Grande do Sul according to the O’Globo network.

For this to happen Lula da Silva said it will be essential for more poor Brazilians to “become middle class”, have more students in universities and more youths training in different trades, but above all Brazil “must improve the quality of its education, curricula and the working of the system”.

“What matters in the XXI century is exporting knowledge, intelligence, that’s what really makes the difference”, he added.

Brazil currently ranks as the world’s tenth economy behind G-7 members (US, UK, Japan, Germany, Italy, France and Canada) plus China and Spain. Brazil’s GDP, Latinamerica’s largest is estimated in 1.3 trillion US dollars.

According to the latest data from the Brazilian government the economy expanded 1.9% in the second quarter of this year compared to the first quarter, thus technically overcoming recession which was installed since last March, following three consecutives negative growth quarters.