This Monday (26th), Brazil and Argentina formalized the adoption of a joint development action plan. The announcement was made by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Workers' Party), who received Argentine President Alberto Fernández in Brasília, in a meeting that celebrated the 200 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
The plan, according to Lula, is made up of almost 100 actions that “give concrete form to our joint development project”. He mentioned that the two governments are working on creating a financing line for Brazilian exports to Argentina. “It doesn't make sense that Brazil loses space in the Argentine market to other countries because they offer credit and we don't”.
The president said he believes that, with this type of initiative, "everybody stands to gain: Brazilian companies and workers as well as the Argentine consumers."
Lula also stated that there are “positive prospects” for BNDES (Brazilian Development Bank) financing for the export of products for the expansion of the Néstor Kirchner gas pipeline, in Argentina, and spoke of the need to find solutions to expand financial integration and facilitate trade, such as the adoption of a specific reference currency for regional trade, the single currency. These are old themes, which had already been mentioned in January, when the two presidents met in Buenos Aires.
Alberto Fernández thanked President Lula for his speech during the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact in Paris last week and the Brazilian President's efforts to help Argentina deal with its severe economic crisis. “I saw what you said in Paris about the IMF's relationship with Argentina, and I appreciate your signature on the letter sent to Joe Biden (President of the United States), which helped to mobilize the other leaders of Latin America”.
The founding act of diplomatic relations between the two countries took place on June 25, 1823, when Argentine leader Bernardino Rivadavia celebrated Brazil's independence and accredited an official envoy to deal personally with Emperor Pedro I. The then United Provinces of Prata were, in practice, the first state to recognize Brazil after the Declaration of Independence, on September 7, 1822.
At this Monday's meeting in Brasilia, 200 years later, Lula decorated Alberto Fernández and his wife Fabiola Yañez with the National Order of the Southern Cross and the Order of Rio Branco.
Argentina is now Brazil's main commercial and diplomatic partner in South America. In 2022, the volume of trade between the two countries was US$ 28.4 billion, of which Brazilian exports accounted for US$ 15.3 billion and imports were around US$ 13.1 billion. Argentina is Brazil's third largest trading partner and the first in South America.
