São Paulo – The Palestinian minister of foreign relations, Riyad Al-Malki, signed a free trade agreement between his country and the Mercosur this Tuesday (20th) in Montevideo, Uruguay, at the summit of heads of state from the bloc’s member countries. On the Mercosur side, the agreement was signed by foreign ministers Antonio Patriota, from Brazil, Luis Almagro, from Uruguay, Jorge Lara Castro, from Paraguay, and Héctor Timerman, from Argentina.
According to news reports published on the Brazilian press, Brazilian technicians estimate the potential for trade between Brazil and Palestine at US$ 200 million. The Brazilian minister of Foreign Relations, Antonio Patriota, stated that the agreement will balance out trade relations with the Arab community, as the country signed a similar treaty with Israel in the first half of this year.
The agreement enables Mercosur countries to export to Palestine under lowered tariffs and vice versa. Currently, the main demand in Palestine is for manufactured goods, according to the Brazilian foreign office (Itamaraty). According to the Palestinian ambassador to Brasília, Ibrahim Al-Zeben, however, what the country needs the most is food. Palestine, in turn, may export religious handcrafted items, olive oil and marble to Brazil.
Palestine maintains free trade agreements with the Arab countries and the European Union. From January to November this year, Brazil exported US$ 14.2 million worth of products to Palestine and imported US$ 17,000. Brazilian exports included beef, rice, chewing gum, sweets, biscuits and orphenadrine citrate, which is a pharmaceutical product.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
