The President of the Republic, Luis Lacalle Pou, referred at a press conference to his proposal for “create a free trade zone that goes from Mexico to the south of South America” that he presented at the summit of heads of state of Celac, which is being held in Buenos Aires this Tuesday. “When one hears in these forums talk about solidarity and growth, well, let’s spread the word. If we say certain things, let’s put them into action”, he pointed.
“Sometimes one sees that they are lamenting speeches and seeking responsibility and that someone else is always to blame. Let’s look inside. We can look inward and make the barriers between countries disappear. For example, Uruguay exporting rice to Peru, it occurs to me“, he asserted.
“We can advance in the region with things that other parts of the world don’t have. Food production, fresh water reserves, generally the language, many things coincide and sometimes we look to the other side of the world regretting and blaming ourselves when we have a lot to do ourselves.“, he sentenced.
On the other hand, Lacalle once again referred to the possibility of signing a Free Trade Agreement with China. “Our position is to advance in the FTA with Mercosur and if it is not so what we have done is advance in a feasibility study and we are ready to move forward and negotiate bilaterally with China. At that point, we’ll look to the side and tell them if they’re willing to move forward. If there is a better proposal, welcome it,” she added.
“It’s not with China specifically, it’s Uruguay open to the world. Mercosur is the fifth most protectionist region on the planet. This is not a vision of this government, it comes from previous governments,” he said.
