São Paulo – The economic agreement being negotiated between Mercosur and the United Arab Emirates is expected to be concluded next year, according to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s statement last week during the Mercosur Summit in Montevideo, Uruguay. The president mentioned the UAE in his speech after highlighting the conclusion of negotiations on the South American bloc’s agreement with the European Union.
“Negotiations with the UAE are progressing rapidly and should be concluded by 2025,” said Lula, adding that the current foreign agenda is repositioning Mercosur in international trade. He also noted that at the end of 2023, the bloc concluded its first trade agreement with an Asian country, Singapore, and that this summit laid the groundwork for an agreement with Panama.
Mercosur and the Arab country formally launched negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) last July, during a round in Asunción, Paraguay, at the bloc’s summit. Since then, further meetings between country representatives have taken place, with the third round held in Montevideo last November.
Although formalized in 2024, talks for the agreement between the South American bloc and the UAE had begun earlier. During the December 2023 summit in Brazil, Mercosur presidents expressed their expectations for exploratory dialogue with the UAE in the summit document. In January this year, in a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Mercosur countries called for progress in negotiations with the Arab nation.
Brazil-UAE trade
Brazil and the UAE have an annual trade volume of over USD 4.3 billion, according to last year’s data compiled by the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC). Most of this amount— USD 3.1 billion—came from Brazilian exports, mainly poultry, sugar, and beef. The Arab country, in turn, grossed USD 1.2 billion from exports to Brazil, primarily oil and fertilizers.
