Brazil aims to be a big defense exporter, a government official said on Thursday.

Marcos Degaut Pontes, secretary of defense products at the Ministry of Defense, said at a defense industry event that the country produces a large variety of defense articles, from planes to defense systems, with a large potential for increasing exports in the sector.

Brazil's Defense Ministry estimated that the country's defense exports could reach 1.5 billion reals (357 million U.S. dollars) in 2019.

Pontes said that by 2022, this amount may rise to 6 billion reals (1.4 billion dollars), adding that the ministry is working to reduce obstacles to the increase of exports.