Mercosur and Arabs: Brazil wishes to negotiate free trade agreements

The Brazilian government is interested in resuming negotiations for free trade agreements between Mercosur and Arab countries such as Morocco, Tunisia, and Lebanon, for which negotiations began but have not yet been concluded. Brazil has been in the pro-tempore presidency of Mercosur since July, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is willing to resume the talks.

“Mercosur aims to deepen its trade relations with Arab countries and believes that there would be a great synergy of interests in free trade agreements with these partners,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil. The bloc formed by Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina has only one free-trade agreement in force with an Arab country, Egypt. It went into effect in September 2017 after a long period of negotiations.

The Ministry also informed that it is consulting with Moroccan authorities, through its embassy in Rabat, concerning the possibility of resuming dialogue on trade negotiations with Mercosur, interrupted in 2018.  There is also a willingness to continue the talks with another Arab country, Tunisia. “The free trade agreement negotiations between Mercosur and Tunisia were suspended in 2017. Mercosur is interested in resuming them as soon as there is space in its negotiating agenda”, informed the Ministry.

Source: ANBA – Brazil-Arab News Agency

To read the full original article, visit the link:

https://anba.com.br/mercosul-e-arabes-brasil-quer-retomar-dialogo-por-acordos/

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