Alliance change
The first visit of the President of the Republic to Chinaorganized to unblock the free trade agreement (FTA) that has been waiting for progress for almost a year and a half, allowed the Executive to achieve several achievements, among them the improvement of the category of the bilateral relationship that will go from being a strategic alliance to a comprehensive strategy.
This means that from now on Uruguay and China will design a common political framework to achieve “a closer and more multidimensional relationship” in a variety of areas, ranging from trade and the investmentsto education and sports, through science and technology.
The new link also includes the signing of 24 treaties and memorandums that impose new and better conditions of exchange in key sectors for the economy of the country. UruguayAs the agro and the clean energies.
New cooperation agreements
Among the twenty agreements that President Luis Lacalle Pou and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping signed, several with a commercial profile stand out, although one on cooperation in bio-nano technology.
Uruguay and China will advance a bilateral cooperation plan to promote the joint construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. It will present the guidelines on energy, industrial, food, and promotion of development issues. mini hydroelectricamong others.
Meanwhile, the memorandum of understanding on the Exchange and Cooperation in the Field of Economic Developmentwill allow “promoting pragmatic cooperation through the exchange of scholarships and training” in sectors such as trade, sustainable development, clean energy, digital economy and cultural exchanges.
In the area of cooperation in technological development, Uruguay and China agreed to co-establish the Uruguay-China Joint Laboratory in Bio-Nano-Pharma, which “will be a platform to jointly conduct high-level research, promote the exchange and training of researchers, and encourage the transfer of technology to strengthen scientific and technological capacity.”
Chinathrough its Ministry of Science and Technologywill provide financing of two million yuan ($279,000) and the Ministry of Education and Culture Uruguayan will facilitate access to the necessary infrastructure and human resources.
Boost in green energies
Among the pacts signed with the Asian giant, there is a memorandum of understanding for the “Promotion of Investment Cooperation in the Green Development” between Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay and the Ministry of Commerce of China.
Based on this instrument, the memorandum establishes that companies will be encouraged to cooperate “in terms of investment in green development, including clean energies such as photovoltaics, wind energy, green hydrogen and solid biomass and other forms of bioenergy.”
For its part, focus will also be placed on “the liquid or gaseous fuels of biological origin, the vehicle industry based on new energies such as the electric battery, the production service of smart charging cells and second-life batteries, disposal and recycling, as well as green finance and the construction of green infrastructure , energy efficiency and alternatives associated with cement production.
The memorandum establishes that, within the framework of the agreement, the parties will encourage companies to jointly promote the green technological innovation and carry out high-level joint research “by establishing scientific and technological innovation platforms, such as Research and Development centers, innovation centers, laboratories and incubators.”
An ally for Mercosur?
China and Uruguay indicated their willingness to “promote dialogue on free trade between the Mercosur and China” and Luis Lacalle Pou stated last week in Beijing that will propose at the next summit of the bloc’s countries a meeting with the Asian giant.
“Both parties are willing to promote dialogue on free trade between Mercosur and China“, indicated the two countries in a joint statement released by the Uruguayan Foreign Ministry after a meeting between The street Pou and the Chinese Prime Minister, Li Qiang.
The Uruguayan president said in a press conference that his country is going to “propose that the meeting of the Mercosur and China” at the bloc’s next summit on December 7 in Rio de Janeiro, under the presidency of Brazil. “We are going to do it formally,” he said. The street Pouwhose government launched trade negotiations with China and defended in Beijing that he wants to “accelerate the partnership” between the two countries.
A closing of the trip that predicts growth
President Lacalle Pou closed his five-day tour China with an interview given to the local news agency Xinhua, in which he not only took stock of the diplomatic and commercial relations between both countries throughout their 35 years of history; but also of the trip in particular, from which he returned with 24 signed treaties and memoranda, and the feeling that, for the first time in months, the signature of the FTA —either bilaterally or with the Mercosur— It’s a close possibility.
It is “the one we were waiting for, the phrase that makes us predict a growth in the bond“In this case, specifically in the economic link,” said the head of state when asked which phrase stood out especially among the conversations with his counterpart Xi. The reference was to the Chinese president’s comment about “moving forward rapidly” in the construction of a Free Trade Association.
Lacalle Pou, who highlighted “the warmth, the hospitality of the government and the Chinese people” in the reception of the Uruguayan delegation – made up of more than 45 people, including government authorities and businessmen –, he also emphasized that the ties between both countries are “ based on the trust”, as well as in “the cooperation and the complementarity of our economies.”
Source: Ambito
