São Paulo – The government of the newly-established Southern Sudan wants to see what Brazil has to offer in terms of bilateral cooperation. The intention was expressed last week by the vice president of the young country, Riek Machar, to the Brazilian minister of Foreign Relations, Antonio Patriota, during a meeting in New York, according to information supplied by the Brazilian Foreign Ministry (Itamaraty). Southern Sudan was recognized as the 193rd member of the United Nations last Thursday (14th), after its formal separation from its Northern neighbour last Saturday (9th).
In an interview to UN Radio, Patriota stated that a delegation from the world’s newest country will come to Brazil to discuss cooperation. According to the Itamaraty, the date of the visit, the delegation members and the areas of interest have not been defined yet, but it is known that the demand for agricultural knowledge is strong in Southern Sudan, an area in which Brazil has vast experience.
The mission, according to the Ministry of Foreign Relations, is known in the diplomatic field as a fact-finding mission. The idea is to have a delegation from the interested country to come to Brazil to become familiar with the opportunities for cooperation. Brazil is already quite active in this field, as it promotes exchange actions with several countries, many of them in Africa.
The independence of Southern Sudan was decided on in January through a popular referendum. The consultation was a result of the peace agreement signed in 2005, which put an end to decades of civil conflict between North and South.
In the North, Brazil is already present in agriculture. The Brazilian group Pinesso, for instance, grows commodities such as soy and cotton in the country. Furthermore, the company Dedini, based in the interior of São Paulo, supplied the material for the building of an ethanol plant for the Sudanese company Kenana.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
