Brazil’s Minister of Finance, Antônio Palocci, said that the Janunary 28 meeting between Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Durão Barroso, the European Community (EC) president, was one of the most important ones for the Brazilian government in Davos.
“It was important, because it gave a second wind to the continuation of negotiations over a trade agreement between the Mercosur and the EC,” Palocci said in an interview with Radiobrás, the Brazilian government radio network.
Minister José Dirceu, head of the Presidential Civilian Advisory Staff, informed that this agreement is expected to be concluded before the end of the Doha round (the global trade negotiations involving the 148 member countries of the World Trade Organization), in 2006.
Palocci also singled out as important the encounter between representatives of the Brazilian government and foreign investors.
According to him, the gathering will pave the way for new investments in the country.
The government believes that the area that will be most benefitted will be infrastructure, in consequence of the recently approved Public-Private Partnerships (PPP’s) project.
Translation: David Silberstein
Agência Brasil