Notícias
TRADE RELATIONS
WTO to help Brazil diversify its exports
Director-General Roberto Azevêdo said it is time to think in innovative ways - Photo: Secom/Syndication
The World Trade Organization (WTO), the multilateral organization responsible for overseeing international trade, will help make Brazilian exports more diversified and dynamic. The statement came from the Director-General of the entity, Roberto Azevêdo, in an interview with Portal Planalto on Thursday (January 3rd) after his meeting with President Bolsonaro in the presidential palace.
The WTO Director-General explained to Portal Planalto that he had a very good conversation with the President of the Republic. For him, the moment is one of transition, not only a formal one, but also of concepts. "This is the project of President Bolsonaro, or Minister Paulo Guedes [Economy], of Minister Ernesto Araújo [Foreign Relations]: how to ensure Brazil increases its competitiveness so that it can diversify its export agenda and its insertion in the global market even further,” he said.
Importance
A country of continental dimensions with great economic diversification, Brazil is one of the largest economies in the world. This inevitably leads, in Azevedo's view, to very active interactions with other trading partners. According to the Director-General, the discussion on trade relations is "very lively" and "very dynamic" in the WTO. The entity's agenda, he added, can be instrumental for the Brazilian government in making Brazil's relations with the rest of the world more dynamic.
"Of course there is a bilateral agenda, Brazil's agreements with individual countries... But there is also the multilateral agenda, especially in the area of agreeing rules, disciplines, things that will harmonize the commercial relationship with other countries," he said.
Development project
After the meeting, Azevedo said that the conversation with the president also involved the economic and trade agenda and how WTO could help in the development project of the Brazilian government. Another theme was the view of the president and the new team on world economy issues.
"I think that, from this base, we have created the opportunity to deepen the relationship between the organization and the Brazilian government with an open mind, ready to think differently and in an innovative way, which is what we need at that moment," he said.