Presidents meet at 5 pm at Palácio da Alvorada; Argentine hopes to expand financing for trade between the two countries
The president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) receives this Tuesday (May 2, 2023) the Chief Executive of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, for a bilateral meeting at the Alvorada Palace. The neighboring country faces a serious economic and financial crisis and hopes to develop new mechanisms to expand trade between the two countries as a way to help Argentina’s recovery.
The bilateral meeting is scheduled to start at 5 pm. In addition to the 2 representatives, the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, the Minister of Economy of Argentina, Sergio Massa, and the chancellors of both countries, Mauro Vieira, for Brazil, and Santiago Cafiero, for Argentina. The president of BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development), Aloizio Mercadante, was invited and will also be present. After the work meeting, there will be a dinner at the official residence.
One of the demands of the Argentine government that should be made possible by the Lula government is the granting of credit to Brazilian companies that sell to Argentina and that import services and goods from Brazil. The information was given by the executive secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Gabriel Galípolo, on Monday (May 1, 2023), in an interview with GloboNews.
Mercadante was invited to participate in the meeting because Fernández’s request for the BNDES to speed up the approval of financing for the expansion of the Néstor Kirchner gas pipeline should also be on the agenda.
When he was in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, on January 23, Lula confirmed the financing and said that businessmen from both countries are interested in the work.
The 1st phase of the gas pipeline was completed and, now, the Argentines are seeking financial help to continue the work. The 2nd stretch will be around 500 km long and will connect the shale oil and gas fields in the Vaca Muerta region to San Jerónimo, in the province of Santa Fé. In a future phase, the gas pipeline could reach Brazil.
Even before Lula confirmed Brazil’s decision, the government of Argentina had already anticipated it in 2022, after the PT’s election, saying it would receive Brazilian state money for the Vaca Muerta gas pipeline.
Argentina’s Secretary of Energy, Flavia Royón, announced on December 12, 2022 that her country already had US$ 689 million in financing from the BNDES to complete the construction of the 2nd section of the work.
Lula and Fernández spoke via videoconference on Thursday (April 27, 2023). In a publication on social networks, the Brazilian said that both dealt with Unasur (Union of South American Nations) and the deepening of trade relations between the countries.
On April 6, the Brazilian government formalized the country’s re-entry into the international organization. Brazil had left Unasur in 2019 by decision of the former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL). On the same day, Argentina also announced the return to the group, created in 2008.
#search #Fernández #meets #Lula #Brasilia