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<P><FONT face=Verdana></FONT></P><FONT face=Verdana>Brazil BNDES To Offer $20
Billion In Financing For HDTV - Government Wednesday October 4th, 2006 /
23h03</FONT></DIV>
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<P><FONT face=Verdana>FLORIANOPOLIS, Brazil -<SPAN class=390361319-06102006>
</SPAN>(Dow Jones)<SPAN class=390361319-06102006> </SPAN>- Brazil's National
Development Bank, or </FONT><FONT face=Verdana>BNDES, is lining up a
financing package of $20 billion for the </FONT><FONT
face=Verdana>implementation of high definition television in Brazil over the
next 10 </FONT><FONT face=Verdana>years, a top government official said
Wednesday.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>According to Andre Barbosa Filho, a special secretary
at Brazil's chief of </FONT><FONT face=Verdana>staff office, the program
will be announced within the next 30 days. "This is a complete plan. It will
even include cash flow financing," he </FONT><FONT face=Verdana>said during
the Futurecom communications conference in the southern </FONT><FONT
face=Verdana>Brazilian city of Florianopolis.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>The Brazilian government estimates the establishment
of HDTV in Brazil will </FONT><FONT face=Verdana>attract investments of
approximately $100 billion.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>On June 29, Brazil's government published a decree
authorizing the use of a </FONT><FONT face=Verdana>Japanese digital TV
system with modifications to suit local needs. Brazilian officials will meet
with Japanese government officials and </FONT><FONT face=Verdana>executives
from Toshiba Corp. (6502.TO) in Brasilia on Oct. 10-12 to </FONT><FONT
face=Verdana>discuss the implementation of the plan.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>The two parties will discuss investments in Brazil as
part of HDTV </FONT><FONT face=Verdana>implementation, including the
building of semiconductor factories. Barbosa said that while the government
has been talking to Japanese </FONT><FONT face=Verdana>companies, other
companies, such as Intel Corp. (INTC), have also shown an </FONT><FONT
face=Verdana>interest in setting up plants.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>Brazil is just starting in the area of semiconductors,
and the industry will continue to be dominated by Asian producers, he
said.<SPAN class=390361319-06102006> </SPAN>"But we may be able to establish
an industry producing certain types of </FONT><FONT face=Verdana>chip, which
could be exported," he added.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>The idea is to extend the modified version of the
Japanese system across </FONT><FONT face=Verdana>Latin America, he said.
Brazil's government was already in talks with its </FONT><FONT
face=Verdana>Argentine counterparts over implementing the same system there,
he said. The timetable for the implementation of the new system will be
published </FONT><FONT face=Verdana>this week, said Marcelo Bechara, digital
TV specialist at the </FONT><FONT face=Verdana>Communications
Ministry.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>The system will be implemented in Sao Paulo first,
with the launch set for </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>December 2007, and spread over the rest of the country
during the next </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>seven years, he told the conference.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>The high-definition televisions will be produced in
the Amazon city of </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>Manaus, where government incentives have prompted most
electronic companies </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>to set up shop.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>"It will be a race against time to be able to produce
sets and get the </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>technology ready ahead of the launch," said Benjamin
Sicsu, vice president </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>for Latin America at Samsung Corp.
(000830.SE).</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>He said companies that want to enter the market
quickly would tend to </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>import components available abroad and build the
platform locally. -By Alastair Stewart, Dow Jones Newswires; 55-11-8473-
5075; </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>alastair.stewart@dowjones.com</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>Wednesday October 4th, 2006 / 23h03</FONT></P>
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