South Korea and Brazilian lawmakers committed to expand links with Mercosur

Tuesday, May 17th 2011 - 00:53 UTC

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Parliamentary leaders of South Korea and Brazil agreed Monday in Seoul to put forth efforts to promote economic ties between the two nations in the framework of Mercosur, through closer interactions at the parliamentary level.

National Assembly Speaker Park Hee-tae met with Marco Aurelio Maia, the speaker of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies, who was visiting Seoul to participate in the G-20 Speakers' Consultation.

The three-day parliamentary forum set to kick off on Wednesday comes as a follow-up of the hosting of the G-20 summit in November last year.

“Brazil is advancing into the world market, stepping beyond South America. I congratulate Brazil on having been able to exert strong power based on its large land, big population and abundant resources,“ Park said.

”Although South Korea is small and lacks in resources compared with Brazil, it has excellent human resources. I hope the two nations will hold hands together to explore the global market“ added Park.

Maia, who took the position in February, said the two nations will play an important role as the leaders of developing nations.

”I am satisfied by the growing trade between Brazil and large South Korean conglomerates, including Hyundai, Samsung and LG,” Maia of the Workers' Party said.

South Korea is seeking to launch bilateral free trade negotiations with Mercosur as Asia's fourth-largest economy accelerates its move to tap deeper into the region.

Mercosur with full members Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, has a total population of some 260 million and a GDP estimated at 2.89 trillion USD.

Two-way trade volume reached 12 billion US dollars in 2008, with South Korea exporting goods worth 6.7 billion USD to the economic bloc.

Categories: Economy, Brazil, Latin America, Mercosur.

Tags: bilateral free trade, Brazil, economies ties, Marco Aurelio Maia, Mercosur, Park Hee-tae, South Korea.

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Forgetit87
Little insignificant South Korea is trying to play China - taking away countries resources and trying to pushing them its cheap goods whilst refusing to buy value-added products from its partners. If countries are already reluctant to accept that sort of partnership with China, a much powerful country, I don't see why Mr. Park believes things will work out differently for his country.
May 17th, 2011 - 01:04 am 0
Drew Puli Wolf
Forgetit87 you sound a little snarky. Are you jealous of South Korea? South Korean industries have invested in Brazil, not just in commodities, but also higher end investments like steel mills and auto plants. South Korea could offer a good model for Brazil and other developing nations. It started out as a war devastated country ruled by a military dictator into a democratic developed nation. Not a bad example to follow. Another question are you Brazilian? Have you been to Sao Paulo? There is a large Korean population there, they are very active in the Fashion Industry. In LA there is also large Brazlian Korean community, it is not unusual to go into a Korean Restaurant and find them speaking in Portuguese .
May 17th, 2011 - 10:01 pm 0
Forgetit87
Let's not have any illusions about South Korea's intentions. S. Korea's economic model is the same as that of China or Japan: it's based on the promotion of a great manufacturing base primarily by means of exports to foreign markets whilst working to impede imports from penetrating into the domestic market. Mr. Park's words testify to that - that South Korea's interest is in BR resources. That their industries might have invested in the country is of no importance. Their investments are in nothing but assembly plants that promote only low-wage jobs to replicate foreign innovations. And that means nothing in terms of development. What does promote development in this stance, as S. Korea well knows, is technology sharing. But in this I know S. Korea won't invest. It's a bit like China, who has absorbed aircraft technology from BR's Embraer whilst refusing to share knowledge in BR in the areas it is more advanced.

“It started out as a war devastated country ruled by a military dictator into a democratic developed nation.”

Good for them, but I do know the extent to which foreign aid and technology transfer have played to S. Korea's development. It wasn't all based on the much praised East Asian virtues.

By the way, S. Korean democracy is supposed to be a model for whom? To BR? But BR is no longer a military regime - though I often wish it was, for at least during the military regime there was development and foreign “investors” didn't have it as easy as they do today.

As for Korean Brazilian community, I have nothing against them, just as I don't hold China's exploitative mercantilism against Chinese-Brazilians. Be that as it may, I think you're mistaking Korean Brazilians with Japanese Brazilians. There are 1.5 million Japanese-Brazilians. Korean Brazilians, however, are not even 50 thousand individuals. I have met a lot of Japanese Brazilians, many Chinese Brazilians - some of whom were born in China - but Korean Brazilian I have never seen before.
May 19th, 2011 - 08:24 am 0

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