Oct 03, 2005. /Lesprom Network/. President Luiz Inбcio Lula da Silva inaugurated the Veracel pulp mill, a joint venture of Aracruz Celulose and Stora Enso located in Eunбpolis in the south of Bahia. The $1.2 billion investment is the largest private sector project in Brazil of the past few years and is generating nearly 3,000 direct and 7,000 indirect permanent jobs in the region. In his remarks, the president said that Brazil is undergoing a new investment cycle and that Veracel is inaugurating a new era for the Brazilian people. "This moment makes me extremely optimistic," he said. Also present at the ceremony, the governor of Bahia, Paulo Souto, said that Veracel consolidates "the most important industrial center in Bahia after the metropolitan region of Salvador." Renato Guйron, the president of Veracel, emphasized the support of the federal government and the favorable climate for the installation of the project. "Our home is here, in the inviting region of the extreme south of Bahia," he said. Guйron expressed appreciation to all who helped build Veracel, including the workers, "anonymous heroes who spared no efforts." The new mill is considered state of the art in pulp manufacturing, making use of the most modern equipment, facilities, construction methods and environmental control systems. The operating tests of the facility began in May — three months ahead of time — and currently daily production is about 2,200 tons, earmarked for the international market. According to the chairman of the Aracruz Board of Directors, Carlos Alberto Vieira, with the startup of Veracel, Aracruz will have the capacity to produce 3 million tons of pulp per year. In his remarks, Vieira said that September 28 was a historic date for the Brazilian forestry sector. "If at the moment the country has only a 1.5% share of the $290 billion annual turnover of the world trade in forestry products, nevertheless today demonstrates that we certainly will increase our share, reaching or even exceeding the cold climate countries that, even with much less favorable conditions and smaller territories, are the leaders of this commerce," he noted. "This, our company's first investment in South America, demonstrates our confidence in Brazil as well as being part of our strategy to expand in emerging markets," said Stora Enso's CEO, Jukka Hдrmдlд, at the event. He reminded the audience that the company is very satisfied with its partnership with Aracruz in the Veracel project. Other authorities attending the inauguration included the interim minister of Industry and Commerce, Ivan Ramalho; the minister of Agrarian Development, Miguel Rosseto; the governor of Espнrito Santo, Paulo Hartung; diplomats and mayors from the region, among others.