Brasília – Six months from now, the Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff will attend the 3rd Africa-South America Summit (ASA), in Malabo, in Equatorial Guinea (Africa), on May 15th and 16th, 2012. She intends to advise all to capitalize on the economic, political and social progress achieved by countries in both regions and seek to boost trade relations. Foreign ministers of attending countries completed preliminary negotiations this Friday (25th).
Last year alone, bilateral trade between the two regions reached US$ 32.2 billion. At next year’s summit, the president will propose that actions to be adopted must be geared toward sustainable development with social inclusion. The theme is the main topic of the Rio+20 Conference, which will take place in Rio de Janeiro from May 28th to June 6th, 2012.
In the last two days, the ministers of Foreign Relations attended the 4th Ministerial Meeting of the Africa-South America Summit, in Malabo. The Brazilian Foreign Relations minister, Antonio Patriota, claimed that the international economic crisis showed the potential of countries located outside the United States-Europe axis.
The minister stated that the present moment is one of reconciling “democracy, economic growth, poverty reduction and environmentally sustainable policies.” Patriota said there is an ongoing effort by president Dilma Rousseff’s administration, which was initiated by the former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, for establishing closer ties with Africa in all areas. According to Patriota, by next month, he will have travelled to 10 African countries.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
