The presidential candidate Uruguay for him National Party, Álvaro Delgadoreferred to different issues of the political-economic situation of the country in the Spanish Chamber of Commerce; and he particularly highlighted the great step that the signing of the Mercosur – European Union (EU) agreement.
“Europe and the world are looking differently at Latin America, So I think an opportunity opens up,” he said. Slim in his dissertation, highlighting that “we have been behind this for 25 years.”
The negotiations with the European bloc are in a delaying moment between the French opposition and Brazilian reluctance regarding the environmental chapter added to the agreement in 2019. However, there are still intentions from the two multilateral organizations to finalize a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) which, according to the former Secretary of the Presidency, “would be a great agreement for both parties.”
“I am no longer in the government, but I know the president (Luis Lacalle Pou) and he will continue to insist on moving forward, all together or being given the opportunity to move forward. Uruguay”, express Slim, regarding the foreign policy of the current administration, focused on achieving new markets in the world.
Likewise, he maintained that “Uruguay It has several lines of work and some that are being added, such as the issue of Transpacific being studied, the possibility of Southeast Asia, the schedule with China, the possibility of an initiative by the president of USA in which it includes Uruguay within twelve Latin American countries and only two of those countries do not have a Free Trade Agreement, so a series of opportunities opens up that will continue to insist on generating flexibility in Mercosur so that it does not suffocate us and not only to generate a more fluid market inside, a Mercosur that has a perforated tariff and that has a lot to advance and to comply with and has to open up to the world.”
A recent situation marked by decisions
Slim He also dedicated a few minutes to the recent decision of the Commission for the Promotion and Defense of Competition (Coprodec) of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) of not enabling the purchase of three of the four plants of Marfrig in the country by the Brazilian group Minerva.
“In reality it is not a decision of the Ministry of Economy, it is a decision of the Commission for the Promotion and Defense of Competition (Coprodec) which is the stage prior to an eventual appeal where the Ministry does,” clarified the nationalist pre-candidate, and added that after communication from the corresponding organization, now “there is a time to do the discharges and make a final decision and obviously everyone has the right to appeal.”
The announcement of Coprodec’s decision generated various reactions, although it was well received both in the ruling party and in the cold stores that, from the first moment, indicated that the operation aimed at a monopolistic concentration of the work in the hands of foreign capital.
Delgado, for his part, made it clear that “the political is not above the legal,” referring to the requests that the different interested sectors had made to President Lacalle Pou to intervene against the merger of the companies. However, the former secretary insisted that the decision was based on technical aspects studied by the corresponding organization.
“We think that always legal security of the Uruguay must be a treasure for investments. That is why we hoped that the process would take place, that the commission would rule, and now the legislation itself establishes the mechanisms for discharges first and eventually resources later,” he added.
Source: Ambito
