Brazilian President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Chilean President, Michelle Bachelet, are going to sign today memorandums of understanding in the areas of science and technology, social security, biofuels, education and tourism. The signing is scheduled to take place at La Moneda Palace, in Santiago, Chile's capital, soon after a meeting between the two heads of states and advisors.
At the meeting, the texts of the memorandums will be defined as will some points of future cooperation agreements between companies in both countries, like oil companies Petrobras and Enap and aircraft maker Embraer and Enaer (a Chilean state-owned company in the aeronautics sector).
At the end of the day both heads of state will head to CasaPiedra Convention Center, where they will give a talk at the Brazil-Chile Business Meeting. After that, president Lula is scheduled to participate in the closing of the World Economic Forum on Latin America.
Promoted by the World Economic Forum and the government of Chile, the meeting began yesterday, April 25, and brings together 400 business leaders from 28 countries who are discussing The Power of a Positive Regional Agenda.
Chile's Importance
Chile ranks among the ten major trade partners of Brazil. It is the seventh largest destination for Brazilian exports, and the eight largest imports source.
From 2002 to 2006, the trade flow between the two countries more than tripled, rising from US$ 2.1 billion to US$ 6.8 billion – always with a positive trade balance in favor of Brazil.
During the same period, Brazilian exports went up from US$ 1.46 billion to US$ 3.89 billion, a 266% increase. Imports saw an even greater increase: from US$ 648 million to US$ 2.9 billion (447%).
Industrialized, manufactured and semi-manufactured goods answer to 70% of the Brazilian export basket to Chile. In 2006, the main items exported were raw petroleum (29.35%) and cellular telephones (4.45%).
Automobile bodies, automobiles, chassis and tractors also accounted for a significant share – together, they answered to 14.8% of exports.
The most imported commodities by Brazil were products derived from copper, the main export item of Chile: 68.94%. The country also imports salmon (2.02%), wine (1.26%) and newsprint paper (0.76%).
ABr
