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Çağlayan working toward Turkey, Brazil/Mercosur deal
The minister has stated he hopes the meetings will lead to the signing of a free trade agreement (FTA) with the South American giant, a member of the four-nation trading bloc Mercosur, which also includes Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. He said that if Turkey could successfully sign an agreement with the countries, he was confident that trade between Brazil and Turkey would surge to about $5 billion from its current level of about $1.5 billion.
Earlier in the week, the minister was quoted in the press as saying that "if Mercosur members sign a free trade deal with us, they will even be able to send goods to Caucasian nations with no customs tariffs."
To this end, he will be meeting with Brazilian Trade Minister Welber Barral, Minister of Mines and Energy Edison Lobao and Foreign Minister Celso Amorim.
The talks are to focus on diversifying trade, planning a joint economic commission meeting that is set for October and ways in which Turkish and Brazilian businessmen can improve investments in each other's countries. Accompanying businessmen will have the opportunity to use the meeting as a networking platform where they can find ways to do business with their Brazilian counterparts. A Turkey-Brazil Business Forum has also been organized for July 17.
The businessmen accompanying Çağlayan represent industries as diverse as textiles, home appliances, construction, mining, automotives and jewelry.
The broad nature of the visit to Brazil was underlined by Emine Şendil, head of the government's foreign trade division responsible for Asia and the Americas. When asked what the main objectives of the meetings were, Şendil told Today's Zaman that there was “no specific agenda” and that “all sectors and issues except politics and the military” will be discussed. She also told Today's Zaman that in addition to the above-mentioned ministers, Cağlayan will also likely be meeting with a number of yet to be disclosed high government officials and ministers.
The Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) recently signed an agreement with the Brazilian state oil company Petrobras in order to work together in exploring for oil reserves in the Black Sea. Petrobras is reputed to have some of the most sophisticated deep-sea oil and gas exploration equipment in the world. The two companies are expected to contribute more than $800 million to the project.
Before flying to Brazil, Çağlayan signed an FTA with Mariano Fernandez, the Chilean foreign minister. The agreement marks the first FTA signed between Turkey and a Latin American country.
During the trip to Chile, the two countries were also reported to have agreed on renewable energy cooperation. During the visit, Çağlayan met with Chilean Minister of Energy Marcelo Ramos Tokman and Minister of Public Works Sergio Bitar in the Chilean capital of Santiago and discussed cooperation opportunities.
Çağlayan reported that during a meeting with Bitar, the minister of public works said he welcomed Turkey's experienced construction contractors extending know-how and other types of support in infrastructure and other projects in Chile.
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