Today, the Argentine Foreign Ministry, the Argentine Embassy in Brazil and the Brazilian State of Pernambuco signed the renegotiated Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) between the Argentine Agency for Investments and International Trade (AAICI) and TeconSuape, in order to make available the hub in Suape Port, Pernambuco to Argentine exporting companies, which will help to optimize costs and increase exports in the northern region of Brazil, our main trade partner within MERCOSUR.
The Secretary for International Economic Relations, Jorge Neme, who headed the meeting, highlighted the achievement of “reaching an agreement that will improve competitiveness between the operator of the new Port of Recife, the capital of the state of Pernambuco, and Argentina,” as “this is the most dynamic area in northeastern Brazil, and it is far from what we know as the heart of MERCOSUR. When I visited Recife, in 2015, I saw that it had a regional integration strategy in place that went from Northeast Brazil to the Patagonia.”
Neme further stated that “MERCOSUR is a necessary platform for the countries in the region to launch themselves into international trade, to build the competitiveness that our industry and productive activities need, and to become top players. We always talk about the possibility of entering together the international markets in which Argentina and Brazil participate as important food producers.”
For his part, the Argentine Ambassador to Brazil, Daniel Scioli, noted that “we will make a qualitative leap in terms of the competitiveness of Argentine products with this initiative. This agreement will be the cornerstone to reducing logistics costs for Argentine exporters looking to access that market.” He added that “we should not wait for them to come buy our products, we should go out and sell them nationwide, especially in the northeast. I am sure that when we review the statistics next year, the northeast will have been the region with the highest rise in trade with Argentina.”
The renewal of the MOC between AAICI and TeconSuape is yet another step towards the consolidation of an exporting culture in our country, as stated by Foreign Minister Felipe Solá, and will benefit Argentina’s exports to a region that has a lot of potential for our products.
The meeting was attended by the Secretary for International Economic Relations of the Argentine Foreign Ministry, Jorge Neme; the Chief Executive Officer of the Argentine Agency for Investments and International Trade, Juan Usandivaras; the Argentine Ambassador to the Federative Republic of Brazil, Daniel Osvaldo Scioli; the Chairman of TeconSuape (the Operator of Port Services), Javier Ramírez; the Secretary for Economic Development of the State of Pernambuco, Geraldo Julio; and the President of Suape Port, D. Roberto Gusmão.
