“We need to look at what kinds of deals we might have with China. I’m talking about this on a very tentative basis. China is a very important trading partner, but there are other sectors that we can work with, for example, in the area of energy. China is a great demander of energy,” Cannabrava said in statements to the Sputnik agency.
The official said that Mercosur (Southern Common Market) has “good capacity” for renewable or low-carbon sources.
“Argentina has gas, Brazil has ethanol, so the energy issue should be dealt with in some way; it seems interesting to us to think about this. In addition, there is the investment part, China is a great global investor,” he added.
Canabrava reiterated that they are “provisional” ideas, which serve for “future reflection.”
“It does not mean that we already have a study or something highly developed. We want to move forward with the discussions,” he explained.
On January 25, the president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silvasaid during a visit to Montevideo that his country wants a trade agreement Mercosur-China, but first it is necessary to close the one that the bloc has been negotiating with the European Union (EU) for more than 20 years.
Lula and the president of Uruguay met in Montevideo to discuss various aspects and seek a rapprochement regarding Uruguay’s intention to negotiate a trade agreement with China outside of Mercosur, something that the rest of the block, mainly Argentina, opposes. .
Mercosur Agreement – European Union
On the other hand, Mercosur seeks to resume negotiations for an agreement with the European Union. For that reason, Argentine Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero is on a trip to Europe to talk with senior bloc officials.
In parallel, Lula met with the German chancellor, Olaf Shcolz, and at the exit he affirmed that he bets that in this semester the EU Mercosur agreement will be finalized and defended a new composition of the UN Security Council.
“We are going to sit at the negotiating table in the most open way possible” in order to be able to “close the agreement until the end of the semester,” Lula assured after his meeting with Scholz at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia.
Mercosur is made up of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Source: Ambito
