Economy Minister Sergio Massaconfirmed that “the decision of both governments and both ministries is to start working, to take the first step on a long road that we must travel towards the goal of a common currency for both countries and with the invitation to other countries in the region”, during the opening of the business meeting, in which he also participated Brazil’s Finance Minister Fernando Haddad.
Regarding this initiative, the official pointed out that “It does not mean resigning the currency of each of the countries but to find a common commercial denominator instrument that reflects the power of the Gross Product of the region”.
This is a region that in the last year has exported or traded more than 600,000 million and that has had positive results for more than 80,000 million dollars.
“Since 2008, Argentina has a currency agreement that, together with Brazil, is managed by the central banks.. She had a goal similar to what we are looking for today; not be tied to the external shocks that the dollar, the euro or the yuan may have or the economic problems that other countries may have,” said Massa.
Regarding the agreement that is being implemented together with the Brazilian Ministry of Finance, he indicated that “means trying to recover the lost volume: almost 40% drop in the trade relationship between Argentina and Brazil in the last 10 years. For different reasons, for different problems, but above all, due to a lack of support for the objective of integration as a State policy”.
Energy integration and guarantee scheme, common challenges
Another of the challenges posed is “energy integration. Our region, Argentina and Brazil, today find a limit to industrial growth and the supply of our populations as a result of the decline that the Bolivian basin has been suffering. We understand that regional infrastructures for development leveraged by the IDB, the CAF, as is the case of the Gas Pipeline work, but also leveraged by bilateral agreements, have the centrality of allowing us processes or projects that have benefits for both countries”, the Argentine Economy Minister explained.
The Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, met this afternoon with his Brazilian counterpart, Fernando Haddad
“The challenge that we have to face together is that Vaca Muerta reaches Brazil so that Brazilians can access the volume of gas they need for the industrial development process and so that Argentines can have the opportunity to export part of what is our resource, our subsoil wealth that today is unexploited or underexploited by lack of infrastructure,” he adds.
Another point he made reference to is the guarantee scheme: “We have decided to advance an agreement between Banco do Brasil and Banco Nación with a guarantee scheme; The amount will be announced by the Brazilian Finance Minister, which will allow us to speed up the process of supplying and exporting companies from Brazil to Argentina and supplying Argentine companies with Brazilian companies,” he stated.
Strengthening of Mercosur and entry of new partners
For his part, the Brazilian minister, Fernando Haddad, assured that he “defends Latin American integration, especially the strengthening of Mercosur, the entry of new partners into Mercosur, the normalization of Mercosur relations with Bolivia and Venezuela, and with other aspirants to integrate the bloc”.
And he warned: “Today in the world we live in, integration is a distinctive element of our competitiveness. Today the industry demands a scale, cutting-edge technology, investment. We are not going to recover our competitive capacity if we do not join efforts to reinsert our economies in the new global scenario.”
Regarding the region, he asserted that “South America has absolutely everything the world needs. It has lithium, soil, wind, sun, South America produces fuel, abundant water, fossil fuels that for a time will be an important source of energy, even in the ecological transition.
Nevertheless, “we are facing temporary problemseach in their own way. Brazil inherited a very serious budget imbalance from the previous government. Argentina has its problems, high inflation, lack of foreign currencyBut Sergio, these temporary problems that we are facing cannot be an excuse for not facing the challenge of integration in the medium and long term, which will represent a robust solution for sustainable development in the long term.
Another of the challenges raised by Massa is “energy integration”
“It is not about the idea of Minister Pablo Guedes of a single currency, it is about making progress in planned instruments and that did not work well, nor the payment in local currency, offering a guarantee that we can advance in trade in the way we that President Lula and President Alberto Fernández want,” he argued.
“Commerce fell due to a situation that was not faced, which is to establish a type of society due to our situation that allows Argentina buys again and Brazil buys again and that it is reestablished. Try to recover a part of that time and those resources. We have to have a lot of ingenuity and establish a type of relationship that can serve as a model for the relationship between Brazil and Argentina towards other Mercosur countries,” he concluded.
