Browsing: Foreign Affairs
Alexandre Rocha, special envoy* Rio de Janeiro – Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez said today (18) that talks with Brazil regarding the so-called Gas Pipeline of the South are advancing. "The presidents of PDVSA and Petrobras (respectively the Venezuelan and Brazilian national oil companies) have advanced significantly in the matter of bringing gas from Venezuela down,
The Brazilian Foreign Minister opened this morning the 32nd Meeting of the Council of the Common Market, the first activity of the Mercosur Summit. As examples of this strength, he mentioned the admittance of Venezuela, the increase of trade and the creation of new institutional mechanisms.
Representatives of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are scheduled to meet with Mercosur negotiators to advance on the project for a free trade agreement. The Itamaraty forecast is that some parts of the treaty should be inked during the Mercosur Summit, to take place between January 18 and 19.
The documents to be signed during the summit of the South American bloc, in the southeastern Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, should include a list of the products to be included in the agreement, and the tariff reduction schedule. The final agreement should be signed in June, during a GCC meeting.
The Brazilian Foreign Office (Itamaraty) should take the suggestions to the next meetings between representatives of the Arab and South American countries. Other government and private organizations, like the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, gave suggestions, among them the training of foreign trade operators and the simplification of visa issuing for businessmen.
The negotiations of the free trade treaty between both blocs advanced last weekend. According to the Brazilian ambassador to Riyadh, Isnard Penha, who participated in the meeting in the Saudi capital, a definition has been reached regarding the basic text, which should be signed during the next Mercosur summit.
From the Newsroom* São Paulo – A group of Brazilian diplomats headed by ambassador Régis Arslanian, head of the international negotiations department of the Itamaraty (head office of the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs), left yesterday (14) to Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia, with the objective of proceeding with negotiations for a free
Agência Brasil* Brasília – Brazil stood out yesterday (23) at conference Integrated Management of Water Resources in the International Scope. The president of the World Water Council, Loic Fouchon, praised the operation of the National Water Agency (ANA), on stating that it represents an advance with regard to the questions raised at conference Rio-92. The
Modelled after the Summit of South American – Arab Countries, which took place in 2005, a summit for the heads of state of South America and the African Union – an organization that includes 53 countries, among them the Arab Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Mauritania, Sudan, Djibouti, Comoro Islands and Somalia – will be held towards the end of this month, in Nigeria.
