Alexandre Rocha*
São Paulo – The Arab countries in South America are engaged in reviewing tariff and non-tariff barriers on agribusiness products as a way to promote bioregional trade. This was one of the discussions of the meeting of ministers in the economic area of both blocs that took place this week in Quito, the capital of Ecuador.
According to the Quito Declaration, approved at the end of the meeting, the governments of both blocs have agreed to simplify trade, and also to provide incentives to investment in the agricultural area, considered essential to "improving the quality of life of their peoples".
Various of the countries participating are large agricultural producers and are part of the G-20, the group of developing countries that is fighting for the liberation of trade of these goods at the World Trade Organization (WTO), among them Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela and Egypt.
The WTO, incidentally, is also mentioned in the final declaration. The signatories have agreed to press the members of the organization to conclude the Doha rounds this year. According to the document, the current cycle of WTO negotiations, also called "development rounds", "and its central objective is social and economic development".
Energy
Both blocs also unite the main producers of oil and other energy sources. In this sense, the governments have signed agreements with the incentive to closer ties between public and private companies to "implement strategic initiatives towards the promotion of investment and technical cooperation in the energy sector," including the oil, gas, biofuel and electricity sectors.
As they did in the agricultural sector, the signatories agreed to seek, in the competent forums, greater opening for oil and energy sector products in general on the international market.
The countries also agreed to strengthen the exchange of information and of technology to promote investment, especially in the financial and capital, industry, telecommunications, information technology and basic infrastructure sectors.
Agreements
In the area of treaties, the countries are going to support the signing of agreements for the promotion of investment and to avoid dual income tax. The declaration also forecasts incentives to the signing of trade agreements, like the ones that are already being negotiated between the Mercosur, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Egypt and Morocco.
The signatories have also agreed to work together after targets for reduction of poverty proposed in the United Nations (UN) Millennium Declaration.
An executive committee with representatives of both blocs was established to work on the implementation of the declaration. The committee was made responsible for elaborating an action plan and is going to meet for the first time at the offices of the League of Arab States, in Cairo, by the end of the year.
*Translated by Mark Ament
