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 Brazil's trade surplus (the difference between exports and imports) reached US$ 547 million in the first week of May, as a result of exports of US$ 2.923 billion and imports of US$ 2.376 billion. This information was supplied by the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade.
In the accumulated result for the year, the trade balance surplus is US$ 7.269 billion, 68.1% more than the value registered from January to the first week of May 2008 (US$ 4.324 billion). Exports totaled US$ 46.422 billion and imports, US$ 39.153 billion from January to the first week of May this year.
In April, the trade balance surplus, which reached US$ 3.712 billion, was the greatest since May last year. According to the Foreign Trade Secretary at the ministry, Welber Barral, exports are still lower than in the period prior to the international financial crisis, which began in September last year, "but shows a tendency for recovery, while in the case of imports, the tendency is for reduction."
Embraer's First Lineage
Embraer, the Brazilian airplane maker, announced the delivery of its first Lineage 1000 business jet. The buyer is Aamer Abdul Jalil Al Fahim, a businessman from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, who received the aircraft in the city of São José dos Campos, in the interior of the state of São Paulo, where the company headquarters are located.
According to the Embraer, the aircraft will be displayed to the public at the European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (Ebace), due May 12 to 14 in Geneva, Switzerland. According to the Brazilian company, the jet is going to be managed by Prestige Jets, an air taxi company based in Abu Dhabi.
The Lineage 1000 is the largest business aircraft made by Embraer. It is based on the commercial jet Embraer 190, which has capacity for up to 114 passengers. Its commercial version accommodates up to 19 people and has autonomy to make direct flights from São Paulo to Miami, or from New York to Lisbon.
ABr/Anba
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The only good thing to say about the visit to Brazil of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on Monday November 23, is that it was mercifully short and lasted less than 24 hours. Ahmadinejad had his picture taken being hugged by president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva who gave him a warm welcome and said Iran had every right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. 
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