MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Foreign Secretary Beckett visits Brazil

British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett will visit Brazil between July 2 and 4 at the invitation of Foreign Affairs Minister Celso Amorim. This will be Ms Beckett first bilateral visit since she was appointed Foreign Secretary two months ago.

On Monday 3 July the Foreign Secretary will meet President Lula da Silva, the Head of the Civilian Household, Dilma Rousseff, and Foreign Affairs Minister Amorim.

Ms Beckett will discuss the UK's increasingly important relationship with Brazil, both bilaterally and in international forums, in advance of the G8 Summit in St Petersburg, to be attended by President Lula de Silva.

Margaret Beckett will also give a speech entitled 'The Challenge of Multilateralism' at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Sao Paulo. It will be her first major speech as Foreign Secretary and it will address the need for key emerging powers such as Brazil to be fully integrated into the multilateral system in order to respond to the main challenges facing the world today: global economic and financial stability; climate change; energy security; global trade; extreme poverty.

Margaret Beckett who was appointed Foreign Secretary last May 5 visited Brazil in an official capacity at the end of 2004 when she was Environment Secretary. Only three months ago, Brazilian president Lula da Silva paid a State visit to the United Kingdom, March 7-9.