São Paulo – Reem bint Ebrahim Al Hashimy, United Arab Emirates Minister of State for International Cooperation, told her Brazilian counterpart Mauro Vieira that her country is interested in concluding trade talks with Mercosur. They met on the sidelines of the G20 meetings in Rio de Janeiro.
The UAE is negotiating a free trade agreement with the South American bloc that is expected to be signed during next November’s G20 summit in Rio.
The information on the meeting between Al Hashimy and Vieira was made public by the Ministry of Foreign Relations of Brazil. The ministry reported that the talks between the Arab country and Mercosur are at an advanced stage. Before the appointments in Rio de Janeiro, the ministry visited Mercosur member states Uruguay and Paraguay, Emirati state news agency WAM reported.
With Vieira, Al Hashimy also discussed Brazil’s hosting of COP30 in Belém, the Brazilian ministry reported. A ‘Troika’ initiative was launched in February 2024 in Dubai to ensure collaboration and continuity between the the Gulf state’s COP28 in 2023, Azerbaijan’s COP29 in 2024, and Brazil’s COP30 in 2025, with a focus on enhancing climate action to keep the target of limiting global warming to 1.5°C within reach.
Minister Al Hashimy’s visit coincided with the marking of 50 years of diplomatic relations between the Middle East country and Brazil, WAM reported.
UAE at G20
During the visit, Al Hashimy participated in the G20 Development Ministerial Meeting of the Development Working Group, whereas Saleh Al Suwaidi, UAE Ambassador to Brazil and G20 Sous-Sherpa, led the delegation at the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty Taskforce, supported by Rashed Al Hemeiri, Director of Development and International Cooperation Department at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The UAE is participating in the G20 as a guest country.
During the UAE’s intervention in the Fighting Inequalities and Trilateral Cooperation Session of the G20 Development Ministerial Meeting, Al Hashimy said, “We cannot advance and maintain sustainable development in general without seriously and sincerely addressing inequality. It is necessary that we acknowledge the root causes of inequality at the global, regional, national, and local levels – even when this produces uncomfortable conclusions – since a policy of ‘more of the same’ will not produce a different outcome.”
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Translated by Guilherme Miranda