Brazil's Foreign Trade Chamber (Camex) approved yesterday official guarantees for the sale of 100 missiles to the Pakistani government.

The missiles will be produced by Mectron, a company from Sao Jose dos Campos, Sao Paulo state, with financing from Brazil's Development Bank (BNDES), local media reported.

The sale was negotiated in April between the Pakistani government and the Brazilian Air Force, but it needed approval from the Brazilian authorities to be completed.

The missiles, which equip aircraft, and detect and destroy radars, will cost 85 million euros. The approval of the official guarantees means that the Brazilian government takes responsibility for the producing company.

After the Camex meeting, Brazil's Defense Minister Nelson Jobim stressed that the sale was an operation between the two countries and praised the missiles.

"It is a very efficient tool, which monitors land from airspace, locates and eventually destroys," he said.

The missiles deal will lead to a development of Mectron's production chain, Minister Jobim said. To deliver the 100 missiles to Pakistan, the small company will increase its production capacity fivefold.