President Mauricio Macri and his Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro reaffirmed their ties of friendship and cooperation on Thursday (06.06.2019) and pledged to strengthen bilateral relations in all areas, agreeing on the following, according to the joint statement:
1. MERCOSUR: They ratified the political will of Argentina and Brazil to strengthen and modernize MERCOSUR by prioritizing its institutional reform and intra-MERCOSUR trade exchange, as well as the international insertion of the bloc through the modernization of its tariff structure and the conclusion of the negotiation of the trade agreements in progress.
2. MERCOSUR, EU, EFTA and CANADA: They instructed their negotiating teams to step up their efforts to conclude negotiations with the European Union, EFTA and Canada, and to continue negotiations with Korea and Singapore.
3. MERCOSUR and the Pacific Alliance: They highlighted the joint work between MERCOSUR and the Pacific Alliance with the commitment to advance the integration process.
4. Virtual South American free trade area: They celebrated the creation of a virtual South American free trade area for the trade of goods in 2019, the year in which the last schedule of tariff reductions of the trade agreements signed by MERCOSUR with its ALADI Associate States concluded, as well as the ongoing process of expansion, modernization and deepening carried out by the States Parties with their ALADI partners within the framework of the agreements signed by MERCOSUR.
5. OECD: They reiterated the strong interest of Argentina and Brazil to begin their respective processes of accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
6. ENERGY: They agreed on the importance of energy as a driver of economic and social development, as well as the importance of accessing new sources of energy to support development, recognizing the potential of the reserves and production of oil and natural gas from the Pre-Salt and Vaca Muerta deposits in both countries.
7. HYDROELECTRIC: The Joint Technical Commission for the use of shared water resources of the Uruguay River will focus on defining the opportunity and mechanisms that allow for further study of the required studies.
8. BIOENERGY AND BIOFUELS: They shared the vision of the importance of bioenergy and biofuels for energy security, economic development and environmental protection. They expressed their satisfaction with the cooperation between Brazil and Argentina through the Platform for the Biofuture and the Ad Hoc Group on Biofuels of MERCOSUR.
9. TRADE: They instructed their Ministers to promote greater access to their respective markets, reiterating the need to concentrate efforts on regulatory convergence, trade facilitation and border controls to facilitate the transit of goods between the two countries.
10. SERVICES:They highlighted the importance of the services sector and committed to facilitating bilateral trade in services, particularly air services and those based on knowledge.
11. NUCLEAR ENERGY: They highlighted the importance of the historic bilateral cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy between both countries and agencies involved,
12. DEFENSE: They highlighted the strategic value of the relationship between both countries in the field of defense. They agreed on the importance of greater cooperation between the Armed Forces of both countries and expressed their satisfaction with the strategic partnership between FAdeA and Embraer for the production of the KC-390 aircraft. They also highlighted the opportunities for cooperation that exist in the space field, and reaffirmed the continuity of the SABIA-Mar satellite project.
13. BIOTECHNOLOGY: They highlighted the early incorporation of Uruguay into the Argentine-Brazilian Center for Biotechnology (CABBIO)
14. SECURITY: They ratified their mutual commitment to strengthen the fight against drug trafficking, corruption and transnational organized crime with concrete actions that guarantee the security of citizens of both countries.
15. BORDERS: They shared experiences on border cooperation and instructed immigration and customs agencies of both countries to simplify and expedite border controls.
During the visit, instruments were signed on the following areas: exchange of electrical energy and cooperation in bioenergy; science and technology; mining; defense; and nuclear cooperation.
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