MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil leads meeting of Amazon basin Cooperation Treaty in Ecuador

Minister Antonio Patriota and peers will advance with the new strategic agenda

Brazilian Foreign minister Antonio Patriota arrives Thursday in Ecuador for bilateral talks on trade, investment and immigration, and to attend a day later the Amazon group summit of ministers, reports Itamaraty palace.

“The cooperation agenda of Brazil and Ecuador includes areas such as digital television, agriculture, bio-fuels, environment, work and jobs, public health and social development”, added the release.

Bilateral trade has trebled from 375 million dollars in 2001 to a billion dollars last year, while Brazilian exports to Ecuador increased 152%, imports have increased seven-fold.

Following Patriota’s meeting with Ecuadorean Foreign minister Ricardo Patiño, the Brazilian minister will attend on Friday the XIIth meeting of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, OTCA, together with peers from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.

Ministers will review advances in the projects and plans since their last meeting in November 2011 in Manaos and which is described as the New Strategic Agenda for Amazon Cooperation 2011/2020.

The Brazilian Foreign ministry recalled that the Amazon basin has 6.5 million square kilometres, has a population of 36 million and holds 20% of the drinking water in the planet’s surface.

The creation of the Amazon cooperation zone dates back to 1978, a Brazilian initiative and has changed its name on a couple of occasions. The OTCA secretariat since 2002 is located in Brasilia. The group promotes the sustainable development of the Amazon basin.