President Luis Lacalle Pou will meet this afternoon with the president-elect of Paraguayanthe colorado santiago penain a strategic meeting facing the historically common interests of both countries within the mercosur.
Lacalle Pou will receive Peña, former Minister of Finance, at the Suárez y Reyes presidential residence at noon where they will talk alone, to later give rise to an extended meeting with their teams. Both politicians will then share a lunch.
The President of the Republic welcomed the victory of the ex-official of the IMF, on April 30, and highlighted his interest in continuing to nurture the good relations between Uruguay and Paraguay. “We are going to continue working together with Paraguay to complement our economies. We hope to jointly strengthen our region to open up to the world,” he tweeted then.
Santiago Peña’s agenda will be full of activities in Montevideo, since he will have three other meetings. He will talk to Sergio Abreuthe general secretary of aladi (Latin American Integration Association), will visit the Mercosur building and will meet with Leandro Folgarthe president of the Foundation Ceibal.
The Colorado politician, who was elected with more than 42% of the votes, is holding several meetings with the region’s presidents before taking office on August 15. The first president whom he visited went to Lula da Silvaon May 16, in Brasilia and this morning, before arriving in Uruguay, he met with Alberto Fernandez in Argentina.
The busy trade agenda between Uruguay and Paraguay
Paraguay is of great importance for Uruguayan exports. According to the report of Uruguay XXI foreign trade balance sheet for the year 2022, it was one of the five leading countries with exports for 144 million dollars.
In the maritime field, Paraguay has great participation in the Port of Montevideo. Last year, the recovery of 100% of the cargo from Paraguay that arrives by barge through the Paraguay-Paraná Waterwaymaking this country participate in the 194 million dollars in income obtained by the National Administration of Ports (ANP).
Historically, this cargo went to the overseas circuit through Montevideo, but in previous years, due to operational difficulties in Montevideo, part of this flow had been diverted to ports in Argentina.
He port of Fray BentosFor its part, it could become a transshipment point in Uruguay, so that Paraguayan pulp can leave for international destinations. Two months ago, President Luis Lacalle Pou met with the mayor of Río Negro, Omar Lafluf and the CEO of the Paraguayan company Paracel, Olofssonto negotiate that possibility that would bring improvements in the port infrastructure as well as the opportunity to transport a cargo volume of 1.8 million tons per year on the first line.
Source: Ambito
