The foreign ministers of Paraguay and Brazil, Antonio Rivas and Ernesto Araújo, defended this Monday (03.02.2020/XNUMX/XNUMX) in Asunción the promotion of a Mercosur more open to free trade and trade agreements with other blocs, as a driver of regional development.
Antonio Rivas proposed returning to the "origins of the Treaty of Asunción," signed in 1991, to give this South American market (also made up of Argentina and Uruguay) a more economic and business-oriented character, and to turn it into a focus of attraction for foreign investment.
During the meeting held on Monday at the headquarters of the Foreign Ministry between the Paraguayan and Brazilian delegations, Rivas urged his Brazilian counterpart to work together to show abroad "the potential of Mercosur."
Rivas also informed Araújo of his recent visit to Brussels to advance the final signing of the agreement between the European Union (EU) and Mercosur, after achieving the conclusion of negotiations that began 2019 years ago at the end of June 20.
Araújo, for his part, described it as "extraordinary" the progress achieved by Mercosur in the last year, with the agreement with the EU and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), and We are making great progress internally in the institutional aspects for trade facilitation and other areas.", the Brazilian foreign minister noted at another point.
"We have a shared vision that Mercosur has to continue moving forward with this dynamism. This is what they expect from us. It is a fundamental part of the growth strategy that we have," said the foreign minister of the Government of Jair Bolsonaro.
Despite Bolsonaro's initial positions and ambiguous statements about Mercosur, his foreign minister expressed his support for recovering "the founding vocation of the bloc," based on free trade, integration and the defense of the population and democracy, as he himself said.
Araújo referred to his trips as foreign minister to different countries and expressed the interest of other areas of the world to begin conversations and negotiations with Mercosur.
In light of these attitudes, Araújo invited his counterpart from Paraguay, the country that currently holds the six-month presidency of the group, to "take advantage of this moment" of openness and promote an "opportunity for growth" for member countries.
"If everything goes well, if we negotiate well, if we continue with this political drive, with this negotiating capacity that we have acquired, Mercosur can very soon become a centre, a hub, in global value chains," said the Brazilian.
Source: Reuters
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