São Paulo – The Mauritanian minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Hamadi Ould Hamadi, will be in Brazil starting next Monday (17th). According to information from the Brazilian Foreign Ministry (Itamaraty), this is the first visit of a foreign minister from an African Arab country to Brazil ever. One of the purposes of the trip is the signing of agreements concerning biofuels and sugar.
According to the Brazilian Ministry of External Relations, the agreements are intended to enable joint programs, mainly for experience exchange and technical cooperation. Brazil has a long-standing tradition in production of sugar, ethanol and other biofuels, and has been sharing knowledge in these areas with other developing countries.
In Brasília, Hamadi will meet with the Brazilian minister of External Relations, Antonio Patriota. In April, Patriota became the first Brazilian foreign minister to visit Mauritania.
On that occasion, the two governments agreed to establish a joint bilateral commission to discuss, on a regular basis, pending matters in relations between the two countries. They also discussed economic, technical and military cooperation, and opportunities in trade and investment. Cooperation agreements were signed for education, fishery and aquaculture. Talks on these matters will be resumed this week. Hamadi should also visit São Paulo.
Early this month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released an estimate according to which the Mauritanian economy should grow by 6.2% this year. Fishery is the country’s main export product. The soil is ore-rich, but still widely untapped.
Brazilian exports to Mauritania generated US$ 167.84 million in revenues from January to November, up 33% from the same period of last year, according to figures from the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade. The main items shipped were sugar, wheat, poultry, train parts, and tyres.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
