São Paulo – Brazil’s minister of Foreign Affairs Aloysio Nunes said working closer with Arab countries in North Africa and the Middle East is one of the priorities for Mercosur. He made the statement during an interview released on the website of the 2018 Brazil Investment Forum, held on Tuesday (29) and Wednesday (30) in São Paulo.
The FM said that besides improving its own economy, Brazil is also intent on increasing trade regionwide. He said the Mercosur is in talks for an agreement with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA – Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein). It has also launched talks last March for a free trade agreement with Canada, and negotiations are being worked on in Asia, with South Korea and Singapore.
He said priorities for the Mercosur include an agreement with India and closer ties with Arab countries. Nunes also said a Brazil-Morocco Cooperation and Investment Facilitation Agreement (CIFA) has been completed and is now pending signing.
The minister said that this shows that the country is seeking to broaden its economic-commercial relations to new dynamic borders of the global economy, plus strengthen relations with traditional partners such as the United States, Japan and China.
According to the news feature on the Forum’s website, in the last two years Brazil signed nine investment promotion agreements and ten cooperation and investment facilitation ones. The minister remarked that Brazil is seen abroad as a country with “solid institutions,” able to overcome its economic and political difficulties in a democratic and institutional way.
The FM said that this is a good moment to invest in Brazil. “We overcame a serious economic crisis, implemented crucial reforms for a competitive business environment and have now begun to reestablish a growth path with credibility,” he said, adding that these variables are taken into account by investors.
The FM pointed out that the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) issue a forecast that listed Brazil as the sixth main destination for investments in the 2017-2019 period. He said that the forum was organized to take advantage of this favorable moment. The event is taking place at the WTC and will welcome foreign investors and opinion makers.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum and Sérgio Kakitani
