Brazil's Lula Invites Central America to Join Mercosur

[Judi Lynn]

Brazil's Lula Invites Central America to Join Mercosur
Written by Newsroom
Monday, 02 June 2008

The president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, during his official visit to El Salvador invited Central American nations, which are grouped in the SICA, Central American Integration System, to join Mercosur and at the same time strongly promoted the use of ethanol in the region.

"We wish to see SICA associated with Mercosur," said Lula addressing the II SICA-Brazil Business Forum, which convened over 150 businessmen from Central America and from the visiting Brazilian delegation into El Salvador City.

"Negotiations for a free trade agreement between Central America and Mercosur have been a challenge for Brazil and our Mercosur partners for some time. We can't depend on a few economies to look for new market niches," the Brazilian leader stressed.

Lula said that trade between Central America and the four full members of Mercosur had jumped 280% in four years to 2007, from US$ 594 million to US$ 1.7 billion.

More:
http://www.brazzilmag.com/content/view/9386/