The regional bloc defined its priorities for this year, which included negotiations with the United Arab Emirates.
He Mercosur agreed to work to close the agreement with the European Union (EU), after the summit of foreign ministers of the countries that make up the regional bloc, which took place in Asuncion, Paraguay, nation that holds the pro tempore presidency.
Although it turned out that the dilated Mercosur-EU agreement could be defined in February, the leaders avoided giving deadlines and much less setting a specific date, after the meeting in which the chancellor participated Omar Paganini, along with their peers Argentina, Diana Mondino Paraguay, Ruben Ramirez, Brazil, Mauro Vieira; and Bolivia, Celinda Sosa.
The ministers had a working lunch with the President of Paraguay, Santiago Peña, while they later issued a statement in which they highlighted as priorities “the strengthening of the integration process, the development of physical integration and external negotiations, with a view to achieving concrete results for the benefit of the regional bloc.”
Regarding the external focus, the foreign ministers pointed out as a priority “concluding the pending aspects of the negotiations with the European Union and reach the signing of a balanced agreement for both parties as soon as possible.” In turn, they agreed to “give continuity to the negotiating process with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA)”.
Mercosur Foreign Ministers Santiago Peña.jpg
Paraguay seeks Mercosur to negotiate with the United Arab Emirates
For its part, the Paraguayan government highlighted that in 2024 they will advance in “the promotion of negotiations with United Arab Emirates”. In fact, Grief He stated that he is carrying out a negotiation with the UAE and expressed: “We believe that it will also be a very important step. Our vocation for integration into the world is clear, without any room for doubt.”
From the country that holds the pro tempore presidency, they highlighted that the objective is to advance and conclude economic agreements with countries of Asia in general and with United Arab Emirates in particular.
In that line, Uruguay proposed months ago to advance a FTA (FTA) with China, after the president Luis Lacalle Pou will visit his peer Xi Jinping and elevate the relationship between both countries to a strategic commercial alliance.
Whether or not to advance in this direction will be fundamental to the next steps of the regional bloc, which significantly changed its composition after the departure of the government of Alberto Fernandez and the arrival of Javier Milei to the Argentine presidency, which could mean a boost to Lacalle Pou’s view of the flexibility of the Mercosur.
Source: Ambito
