MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“US our main individual partner”, but Mercosur is priority

Mercosur is priority said Pte. Lula da Silva

Brazilian president Lula da Silva strongly defended close relations with United States and agreements on developing bio-fuels, but also underlined that Mercosur remains a top priority for Brazil.

Lula last Friday received US President George Bush in Sao Paulo where both countries signed a cooperation agreement to manufacture bio-fuels, of which the two countries are world leaders, said President Lula in his weekly radio program, "Breakfast with the President". However he emphasized that Mercosur is even more crucial for Brazil. "United States continues to be our main individual partner, from a trade point of view, and is the main single investor in Brazil. Therefore we have historic links with United States", said Lula da Silva. "We want to keep that relation; we want to improve it, but without abdicating from our major commitment which is the process of strengthening Mercosur; construction the South American Community of Nations and the current integration process we're involved in", he added. The cooperation accord between Brazil and the US has the purpose of promoting the use and production of bio-fuels, mainly ethanol, of which both countries are the main producers in the world, and cut dependency from oil. Earlier in the week Lula da Silva said that if Brazil and the US are willing to go ahead with the protocol signed in Sao Paulo, "we'll deliver a major change to the world's energy equation, particularly fuels, in the coming two, three decades". The agreement is geared to promote bio fuels in Central America and the Caribbean, and opens the way for the entire world to consume ethanol blended with petrol and thus reducing atmospheric contamination. "This means that very soon ethanol will have an international price and therefore will become a "commodity" insisted Lula da Silva. The Brazilian president is scheduled to meet with President Bush at the end of the month in Camp David and "bio-fuels remains top of the bilateral agenda". Lula said that the other big issue is access to agriculture markets in the US and Europe in the framework of the current World Trade Organizations Doha Round talks and anticipated that developing countries are willing to make concessions on industrial goods and services. "We're willing to concede our share taking into account the wealth and proportionality of each country because in agriculture for example 25% of the Brazilian population is directly involved, in some African countries 70% and this percentage drops dramatically to less than two per cent in France, (similarly in the US) "Everyone must make concessions, that's the only way ahead", said Lula da Silva.