MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay signs memorandum with United Kingdom on aerospace, infrastructure, and digital innovation

“This agreement is in line with the strategic objectives set out by President Yamandú Orsi, focused on commercial openness and mutual cooperation,” Oddone (center) said

The Uruguayan government on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding with the United Kingdom to deepen bilateral dialogue and advance cooperation in the aerospace, infrastructure, and digital innovation sectors, in a new step in the rapprochement between the two countries initiated with the visit of Economy and Finance Minister Gabriel Oddone to London in February. The agreement, valid for at least the next four years, was signed between the Uruguayan Ministry of Economy and Finance and the British Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

“This agreement is in line with the strategic objectives set out by President Yamandú Orsi, focused on commercial openness and mutual cooperation with relevant actors in every region of the world,” Oddone said after the signing. The minister emphasized the importance of “exchanging capabilities and experiences in key areas” and called for “generating new investment and development opportunities for the country.” British Ambassador in Uruguay Mal Green said for his part that the meeting with Oddone in London “allowed us to identify real opportunities for joint work in key sectors for economic growth,” and underscored that the memorandum “creates a framework for continuing to develop cooperation between our countries.”

On infrastructure, the document foresees the exchange of experiences in planning, governance, and financing, in coordination with the Ministry of Transport and Public Works, as well as a technical dialogue on institutional models that includes advisory work on the possible creation of an Uruguayan Infrastructure Agency. The agreement also contemplates exchanges on public-private partnerships and on strategies for infrastructure resilient to climate change. On the aerospace dimension, both governments will explore dialogue on civilian space strategies, regulatory frameworks, and cooperation opportunities in non-military satellite communications, terrestrial infrastructure, and data services, in coordination with the Ministry of Industry, Energy, and Mining. On digital innovation, the memorandum aims to strengthen innovation ecosystems through links between startups, academia, and the public sector, and to foster the exchange on governance and ethical standards in artificial intelligence.

The agreement is part of a period of growing density in the bilateral agenda. The United Kingdom overtook Argentina in February as the fifth-largest destination of Uruguayan exports, a position that reflects the advance of commercial exchange between Montevideo and London. In parallel, the Uruguayan government is considering with interest a British offer to acquire three Royal Navy River-class offshore patrol vessels, a negotiation underway following the cancellation of the contract with Spanish shipyard Cardama, which President Orsi has defined as a transaction “country to country.” The set of initiatives shapes one of the most sustained Uruguay-UK rapprochements of recent decades.