The foreign minister did not achieve concrete progress but signed a memorandum of understanding for the creation of a group for investment and economic cooperation.
The Foreign Minister, Francisco Bustillo, had a surprise meeting with the Chinese vice presidentHanzhengbefore joining his Chinese counterpart, Qin Gangm and the International Trade Representative, Wang Shouwen; although his intentions were to return with some progress in the negotiations of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the Uruguayan foreign minister will return, in his place, with a memorandum of understanding to establish a working group for investment and economic cooperation.
Bustillo traveled this Sunday to the People’s Republic of China with a clear objective: to advance with the FTA negotiations that are coming late for more than nine months. Today, she met with the vice president of the Asian giant where they expressed that they value “the deepening of bilateral ties throughout the 35 years of diplomatic relations” and highlight the importance that both countries give to multilateralism.
After the meeting with the president, Bustillo met with his Chinese counterpart where they highlighted the relationship between the countries, establishing that they are a example of economic cooperation between states with different sizes and systems. On the other hand, the Chinese foreign minister stressed the country’s interest in deepening trade cooperation, through increased imports of Uruguayan products, as well as exploiting investments, the science and technology sector, education, culture and sports.
In his meeting with the International Trade Representative of China, Bustillo managed to sign a memorandum of understanding whereby a working group for investment and economic cooperation is established. Regarding the progress of the Free Trade Agreement negotiations, the countries agreed that the agreement would bring benefits to both parties and analyzed possible scenarios to continue advancing in finalizing the signing of the treaty.
Uruguayan Foreign Minister returns with many meetings under his belt with Chinese representatives agreeing that the FTA will be beneficial to both nations. However, no concrete progress could be made that brings the signing of the treaty at least a little closer. In May of this year, government representatives, as well as the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries (MGAP) they will go to China with the same objective.
Source: Ambito
