President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva defended, on Monday (18), the expansion of trade with Ecuador and said that relations with South American countries are a priority for Brazil.
Lula received the president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, on an official visit to Brasilia and reaffirmed the importance of commercial diversification.
“In a challenging global scenario, where rivalries get worse and multilateral institutions are emptied, it is necessary firmness in defending our independence. For Brazil, autonomy is a synonym for diversification of partnerships. Ties with Ecuador and other South American neighbors are priorities for us,” he said in a press release after the meeting.
According to Lula, Brazil will return to import bananas from Ecuador, according to court decision. In 1997, Brazil restricted the importation of the neighboring country’s product due to phytosanitary issues. After an entry authorization period in 2017, new suspensions and disputes were established.
Brazil was even questioned by Ecuador in the World Trade Organization (WTO), which claimed violation of commercial rules.
“We are willing to work for a more balanced trade, reducing barriers to Ecuadorian products. We will start by fulfilling the judicial decision that determined the opening of the Brazilian market for the banana produced by Ecuador. We will start with the dehydrated banana and, by the end of the year, we will conclude the analysis and risk for the fresh banana,” said Lula.
“Likewise, I am sure that the government of Ecuador will be aware of the products of interest in Brazil starting with pork,” added the president, highlighting the need to update the agreement between Mercosur and Ecuador.
“The recent entry into force of our investment cooperation and facilitation agreement will give business security,” he said.
In 2024, the trading current between Brazil and Ecuador totaled US $ 1.1 billion, with Brazilian exports of around US $ 970 million. The main items exported to the neighboring country are vehicles, machines, medicines and products of paper and pulp industries.
Crime
The Brazilian president also spoke about cooperation to combat organized crime among the Amazonian countries and wants to reinforce the partnership with Ecuador in combating various illicit?
“We will reopen the adidance of the Federal Police in Quito and we have already promoted training on investigation of financial crimes. We can do much more, from actions to curb criminal activities within prisons to operations to repress the smuggling of weapons,” he said.
Lula again defended the regulation of digital networks and accountability of Big Techslarge technology companies that control these networks.
“I explained to the President paid the urgency with which the government and Brazilian society have been seeking to face crime in the digital sphere. Our societies will be constantly threatened without regulation of Big Techs. This is the great contemporary challenge of all states. ”
“Digital networks should not be lawless land, where it is possible to impose impunity against democracy, inciting hatred and violence. Eradicating the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents is a moral imposition and an obligation of the public power,” he added.
Official acts
Among the topics dealt with by Lula and Noboa at the meeting are commerce and investments; Combating organized crime; social development; Science and Technology; South American integration; Amazonian cooperation; environment; and climate change.
During the official visit, acts were signed in the areas of Food Security, Artificial Intelligence and Family Farming. The first on technical cooperation for the fight against hunger and poverty through the exchange of experiences, studies and knowledge between the two countries.
A memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the area of Artificial Intelligence was also signed. The goal is to strengthen academic-scientific cooperation and the training of high-performance computing infrastructure professionals for the development of Latin American artificial intelligence models.
Finally, understanding was established to promote public policies on family farming, sustainable agricultural and rural development, agroecological transition, short marketing circuits, public food supply systems, increased production of organic agriculture and reduced losses and waste.
Following the meeting at the Planalto Palace, Lula welcomed Noboa and other authorities at lunch at the Itamaraty Palace.
