Alexandre Rocha São Paulo – The 11th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) has not even officially started, but, up to yesterday (11), 180 heads of delegations had already registered presence at the preparatory events taking place at the Anhembi Convention Centre, in the city of São Paulo. Apart from that, around 2,500
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Leaders of the Civil Society Forum, a debate space for non-governmental organizations, taking place parallel to Unctad, want the entity to forward world agreements on the commercialisation of commodities, halting the fall of prices paid to rural producers. The issue was raised in the presence of Unctad’s secretary general, who participated in the forum on Friday (11) afternoon.
Today and tomorrow, G-20 and G-5 (Brazil, India, Australia, USA and EU) meetings will be held to discuss agricultural subsidies. Chancellor Celso Amorim believes these meetings may unblock World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations. Representatives from the Mercosur (the Common Market of the South, a customs union between Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay) and the European Union will also meet to discuss the agreement between the blocks. Yesterday, the G-77 meeting started and a new roun
According to information from the Ministry of Agriculture, the meeting between representatives from Brazil, India, USA, Australia, and the European Union could serve to "unblock" some subjects that are jamming the negotiation agenda on the matter in the WTO scope.
The Conference, to begin on June 13 in Brazilian financial capital São Paulo, may be an opportunity for closer relations between importers and exporters in both regions. The part played by the Unctad as an organization for the defence of the interests of developing countries will also be discussed. NGOs and scholars state that the USA and Europe are trying to weaken the organization.
The meeting of the group that is made up of developing countries is going to precede the 11th Unctad. A new roundtable of negotiations within the Global System of Trade Preferences Among Developing Countries (GSTP) should be started.
This is the opinion of São Paulo state governor Geraldo Alckmin who met Unctad secretary general Rubens Ricupero yesterday (02). The event will take place between June 13 and 18, and will focus mainly on showing products and the competitiveness of developing countries.
According to the director of the STD/Aids program, Alexandre Grangeiro, the idea is to develop new technologies and medicine so as to reduce treatment cost.
Brazil took one more step in the direction of the South American-Arab Summit last weekend, during the World Economic Forum meeting in Jordan. During the talks Brazilian Foreign Relations minister Celso Amorim had with Arab leaders who were present, it was clear that the rising trade between both regions would be the main topic of the meeting, scheduled for Brazil in December.
During a visit to Jordan, during the World Economic Forum, Brazilian Foreign Relations minister Celso Amorim and League of Arab States secretary general Amr Mussa defined the details of a preparatory meeting for the Summit between heads of states of both blocks. The summit is scheduled for December this year.
