MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Former Brazilian minister blames Argentina for lack of EU/Mercosur trade accord
“Mercosur is stalled, maybe it's time to declare the independence of Brazil from that group”, said Furlan 
While Brazil is stalled, Peru has grown faster, with less inflation and more foreign investment and that is “because they belong to the Pacific Alliance” A former Brazilian Development minister and currently member of the board of BRF, one of the world's leading food corporations, Luiz Fernando Furlan said Brazil is far away from world trade agreements and urgently needs to review policies in this area, including participation in Mercosur.
“Mercosur is stalled, maybe it's time to declare the independence of Brazil from that group”, said Furlan revealing that on two occasions Argentina's attitude impeded the possibility for Mercosur of signing trade agreements with the European Union.
Furlan added that if Brazil manages to grasp 'independence (from Mercosur)' it could sign bilateral agreements with other countries and blocks, without the need of the unanimous support from other members of Mercosur, as is the case currently according to the group's charter.
“I mention the case of Peru, which despite having a left leaning president, it is growing faster than Brazil. They have less inflation and are far more attractive for foreign investors, and this is because it is a member of the Pacific Alliance” argued Furlan during a conference on “State-Competitive Brazil”.
Furlan also mentioned the need for Brazil to increase exports of goods with greater added value. “We're proud of being the world's leading producer of coffee, but has any of you been able to purchase coffee in a supermarket outside of Brazil, or a coffee brand overseas identifying Brazil?”
The minister's statements were made during moments of great financial uncertainty in Brazil, following on Dilma Roussef's very tight re-election and expectations over the name and inclination of the next team in that field. Not to mention the corruption scandal involving the country's largest corporation and not so long ago among the top list of global oil and gas companies.
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Read all commentsFinally, someone speaking reason, publicly, instead of following the Argie fiction.
Nov 20th, 2014 - 06:07 am 0This makes more sense than writing “Malvinas son Argentina's” on all the buses.
A frank and honest statement.
Nov 20th, 2014 - 07:20 am 0Argentina is a faulty handbrake that prevents any momentum towards progress for Brasil, and Latin American countries.
Time to offer a handshake, and a little advice, and cut the umbilical cord of Mercosur membership. Brasil is getting nowhere fast with this Albatross.
I think this was a long time coming, a forward thinking country like Brazil was bound to want to unshackle itself from Mercosur, now its in the top 8 rich countries, as we all know; you only stay in that position be dealing with other prosperous nations, something which is increasingly hard to do in South America, Brazil needs to not only ensure good export of goods, but seize the opportunity of them exports and thier financial markets through global finances, of which the City of London within the EU is by far the world power house of such markets, the link that connects Europe to America and Asia to South America, Brazil needs trade agreements and the Argentines as per usual hold South America back, Frankly what do the Argentines know about Money or business for that matter, got to feel for the general population with a backwards government like theirs. That said Brazil has some way to go, perhaps this is the voice needed to push that on.
Nov 20th, 2014 - 09:23 am 0Commenting for this story is now closed.
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