Brazilian president hails Beijing Olympics

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-08-04 11:09

BRASILIA -- Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva expressed best wishes for the Beijing Olympics and his country's bid for the 2016 Summer Games, and said Brazil-China ties have bright prospects.

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva shields himself from the rain before a news conference with his Colombian counterpart Alvaro Uribe at the presidential farm of Hato Grande near Bogota July 19, 2008. [Agencies]

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Lula, who will attend the Olympic's opening ceremony on August 8, said Brazil will send its biggest ever delegation to the Games, with 277 athletes to compete in 32 events.

This reflects Brazil has made rapid progress in sports in recent years, and attached importance to Olympics, Lula said.

The president also said he is convinced that the Chinese delegation will again make history in the Olympiad and become the pride of their nation.

On Brazil-China ties, Lula said their strategic partnership reflected a consensus on meeting the challenge of sustained development, and playing their roles together on the international arena.

Both are seeking to boost social progress in their own country, while maintaining a multipolar system in today's world.

He noted that there are more exchanges of high-ranking visits, and rapid and sustained growth in bilateral trade. Cooperation has also been broadened to such fields as science and technology, education, culture, energy, agriculture, outer space and information technology, he said.

He cited bilateral cooperation in the aerospace as an example, saying the two countries have jointly launched three satellites that have provided images to many countries.

The president said Brazil is doing its best to bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics. If Brazil succeeds in its bidding, it will bring the Olympics to South America for the first time ever, granting its 400 million people a close contact with the Olympiad.

As both Brazil and China are developing countries facing similar challenges in organizing and providing logistics for the Games, Brazil can learn a lot from China's experience in preparing for the Games, Lula said, adding that he will take the opportunity to learn at close range China's success story in infrastructure construction and Games organization.

The Brazilian government has invested a huge sum of money to improve the infrastructure and security of Rio de Janeiro, one of the four candidate cities for the 2016 Games, he said.

The other three are Chicago, Tokyo and Madrid.