From the Newsroom
São Paulo – Yesterday (29), Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva mentioned the growth in Brazilian trade with Syria as an example of the "daring" strategy necessary to increase developing country participation in international trade. "Foreign trade depends, mainly, on daring strategies and courage. And, I would say, when we were sworn in, we decided to transform our foreign policy into a government priority," stated the Brazilian president during an industrial seminar in Praia, capital of Cape Verde.
"In these 18 months of government, we have already visited over 30 countries, and the results we are collecting are visible. All Brazilians know that we are braking trade balance surplus records every moth," stated Lula.
"We have started trading with countries with whom we had no trade relations. I will mention Syria as an example. We used to trade only US$ 8 million with the country. After our visit, foreign trade with the country rose from US$ 8 million to US$ 68 million, a growth of almost 800% in these relations," stated the president, referring to the tour he took of five Arab countries in December last year, including Syria.
President Lula has already mentioned the increase in trade with the Arab countries as success stories in the Brazilian foreign policy many times. In reality, Brazilian export to Syria totalled US$ 87.3 million in the first half of this year, against US$ 12.4 million in the same period last year, an increase of almost 605%, according to information supplied by the Brazilian ministry of Development, Industry, and Foreign Trade.
The Brazilian president used the Syrian example to show that it is necessary to create mechanisms to strengthen trade between Brazil and Cape Verde, including the establishment of a Chamber of Commerce.
Africa
The visit to Cape Verde was the last phase of the third tour president Lula has taken to Africa during his term in office. This week he also visited Sao Tome and Principe and Gabon, where he participated in the fifth summit of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP). During his visit to these countries, accords for cooperation in various areas were signed, including health and information technology.
In December last year, the president visited Egypt and Libya, and also Lebanon, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates. Before that, in November, he had visited five nations in Sub-Saharan Africa.
"For many, many years, we have had our eyes turned to Europe and to the United States. And we are going to continue looking their way, as they are our main trade partners. However, that does not stop us from looking in other directions. We looked at Africa, knowing that the continent now needs assistance from countries that have a greater development potential," stated president Lula yesterday.
During his tour to Africa, president Lula mentioned the importance of increasing trade with developing countries many times. Yesterday, while addressing the Cape Verde National Assembly, he stated that the Mercosur – the bloc formed by Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay – is becoming a "pillar" of what he calls the "new world economic geography," i.e., a new economic map in which south-south trade has a position of greater importance.
On Wednesday (28), during his visit to Gabon, the president stated that, although it is not a rich country, Brazil has a "moral obligation" to help poorer countries. "The fact that Brazil has poor people does not mean that the country cannot help other brothers, in countries that are in similar conditions or poorer than Brazil," he stated.