Mercosur will seek partnerships with other blocks

The 46th Mercosur Presidential Summit of tomorrow, July 29 in Venezuela, now preceded by a meeting of Foreign Ministers, glimpses partnership plans with other blocks, according to previous declarations of its protagonists. “It will be a very inclusive meeting,” said the President of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro, who will deliver to Cristina Fernández the rotating presidency of Mercosur, the block that will create, as he announced, an “economic zone” with the countries of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA) and Petrocaribe.

The President of Brazil has provided that she will propose in Caracas the anticipation before the end of the year to adopt a free trade agreement between Mercosur and the Pacific Alliance, a trade agreement that associates Chile, Peru, Mexico and Colombia.

Brazil seeks that the agreement to eliminate tariffs between the two blocks takes effect until the end of this year and not in 2019,initially negociated date. Reducing tariffs might initially benefit the industry and trade in agricultural products.