Brazilian Minister
of Foreign Relations, Celso Amorim, in China
with President Lula, said that the world is aware of Brazil’s policy
on behalf of a new global economic map. Nevertheless, Amorim
stressed that, instead of representing a break with the developed
countries, this new economic geography can benefit all.
by: Edla
Lula
Twenty-four agreements are expected to be signed during President Luiz Inácio
Lula da Silva’s visit to China. Ten are memoranda of intention between the
two countries, and the other 14 are between private firms.
The agreements cover the
areas of science and technology, trade, and services. "We are giving
a new momentum to the relationship between Brazil and China," declared
the Minister of Foreign Relations, Celso Amorim.
At the government level,
the most eagerly awaited agreements are those on cooperation to restore the
Brazilian railway system and authorization by both sides of visas for business
travel.
As far as private enterprise
is concerned, the Vale do Rio Doce (mining), Telemar (telecommunications),
Embraer (aircraft manufacturing), Petrobras (oil and natural gas), and Varig
(air transport) are among the large firms that will conclude business transactions.
Amorim said that the world
is aware of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s policy on behalf
of a new global economic map. Nevertheless, the Brazilian Chancellor stressed
that, instead of representing a kind of break with the developed countries,
this new economic geography can be beneficial to all.
"What we are doing
is not against anyone, it is in our favor. If Brazil grows, and China grows,
and trade between the two grows, and trade between South America and China
grows, this will make our market more attractive to the United States,"
he said.
He remarked that the agreement
between the Mercosur and the European Union, which should be discussed at
the meeting in Guadalajara, Mexico, this week, is making headway.
"In international
trade I don’t perceive a competitive relationship with one thing taking another’s
place. One thing adds to another. This is good for everybody," he argued.
Amorim said that the United
States is too big to be bothered over advances in Brazil’s foreign policy,
in a reference to an editorial dealing with this issue in this Saturday’s
edition of the Financial Times newspaper.
Old Brazilian Dream
The physical integration
of South America, one of the Brazilian government’s foreign policy goals,
can become a reality. China, which is a big buyer of Brazilian soybeans, around
US$ 1.3 billion per year, is going to invest in the recovery of Brazil’s railway
system, mainly in the segments used to transport this product.
The memorandum of understandings,
which will be signed during President Lula’s visit to China, foresees the
construction of railways along a route terminating in Antofagasta, Chile.
It is in the Chinese government’s
interest to have a channel for the exportation of Brazilian products, especially
soybeans, from ports on the Pacific Ocean. The investment will permit China
to reduce its import costs.
For Brazil, the agreement
will open the way to restoring infrastructure and communications throughout
the region. The idea is to enable Brazilian products to cross the Andes and
arrive at a Pacific port.
"We are all increasingly
convinced that the term integration presupposes physical integration, and
we are all searching for instruments to provide the resources necessary for
bringing about this integration," said President Lula.
The Brazilian President
commented that the trip to China has a strong relationship to Brazil’s interest
in effectuating the project of regional integration. "Without the investments,
this integration will be much more rhetoric than anything else. We want a
concrete and objective integration."
The project, which was
formulated in partnership with the Brazilian Ministry of Planning, envisions
the possibility of Brazilian participation in kind, by furnishing soybeans
and other food products.
"This proposal is
very important to Brazil. It meets Brazil’s need to correct a serious lag
in our lines of communication, our ports, and our railways," says the
Brazilian Ambassador to China, Afonso Celso Ouro Preto.
He observes, however,
that this is a medium-term process and the first step is being taken now.
"We should not imagine that the results will spring forth overnight,"
he says.
President Lula will also
demonstrate to his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, the advantages of China’s
investing in the entire region. "An improvement in the relations between
Brazil and China means an improvement in the relations between China and the
Mercosur, because Brazil is a gateway.
"We have every interest
in encouraging other Mercosur and Latin American countries to broaden their
relations with China," Lula says. "We want to make the Mercosur
a solid and strong economic bloc, and it is for this reason that we are working
to strengthen the economy of the other countries," he adds.
A route to the Pacific
is an old Brazilian dream that is gaining momentum at a juncture in which
the country is intensifying its commercial relations with the Far East.
Reason for Worry
Lula’s China trip is taking
place while foreign direct investments in Brazil are dropping. The director
of Invest Brazil, Clementino Fraga Neto, informed that the net result of foreign
direct investments in April, US$ 381 million, 52 percent less than the US$
796 million recorded in April, 2003, can be explained by the adverse international
situation and, also, the transfer of earnings abroad by the Telefônica
Company.
The director of Invest
Brazil pointed out, however, that, despite the decline, Brazil retained its
sixth-place position in the ranking of global investment flows. From January
to April, foreign direct investments in Brazil came to US$ 3.1 billion. Invest
Brazil is the country’s investment promotion agency, fruit of a partnership
between the federal government and the private sector.
The rise in oil prices
and the complicated situation in the Middle East, including the crisis in
Iraq, signal that the flow of foreign investments in 2004 should end the year
at around US$ 13 billion, the target forecast by the Central Bank, Fraga Neto
estimated.
The United States, with
US$ 203 million, led the ranking of investors in April, followed by Italy,
with US$ 132 million, and the Netherlands, with US$ 73 million. The sector
that received the largest influx of resources in April was the energy sector,
US$ 134 million.
The inflow of foreign
direct investments to Brazil in May should suffer the effects of the rise
in international oil prices, Fraga Neto said. In line with Central Bank data
on currency exchange transactions concluded up to the moment, the market expects
foreign direct investments in May to hit the mark of US$ 600 million.
Edla Lula works for Agência Brasil (AB), the official press agency
of the Brazilian government. Comments are welcome at lia@radiobras.gov.br.
Translated
from the Portuguese by David Silberstein.
