New York – The minister of Foreign Relations of Brazil, Celso Amorim, said yesterday (16) that the Brazilian option of diversifying trade partners helps make the country less vulnerable in moments of crisis. But he pointed out that this moment does not weaken relations with long-term partners.
"The trade flow between Brazil and the United States has doubled in six years and exports from Brazil to the North Americans have grown more than those of other countries that have free trade agreements with the United States," said the Foreign minister.
Statistics, according to Amorim, weaken the thesis that Brazil is losing space on seeking less conventional markets, like Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. The minister also answered to criticism that the closer ties between Africa are not bringing economic benefits to Brazil. "Since 2003, trade with Africa rose from U$ 5 billion to U$ 26 billion a year. If Africa were a country, it would already be the fourth main trade partner of Brazil," said the Foreign minister.
Amorim was the last of the ministers who accompanied president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on his trip to the United States to speak at a seminar about business investment opportunities in Brazil. He made use of the opportunity to defend the return to the Doha Rounds – negotiations of new rules for global trade, which began in 2001, in Qatar, and have not been concluded to date.
"The United States do not need to fear Doha," said Amorim. "Doha is not a great free trade agreement, but a change of rules to make things better for all. It is aimed, mainly, at eliminating subsidies, implementing a system free of quotas and tariffs for the poor countries and at strengthening the multilateral system, which even strengthens peace," explained Amorim.
*Translated by Mark Ament
