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Russia, Brazil Ink Accord on Partnership
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and Brazilian Vice President Marco Maciel signed Thursday an agreement on Russian-Brazilian partnership and a program on joint actions of their governments to boost the cooperation between the countries.
After the first session of the Russian-Brazilian Committee for Cooperation at a high level here, the sides reached a package of intergovernmental agreements on bilateral cooperation, including the above-mentioned two key documents and a memorandum on exchange of information about money laundering and other spheres, reported Russia news agencies.
At the signing ceremony, Kasyanov emphasized that these documents "provide an instrument for further cooperation between the two countries."
The two sides outlined the priorities and spheres of further cooperation. In particular, the parties discussed cooperation in the fields of space and nuclear technology, he said.
Another theme of the meeting is the development of trade relations, said the Russian premier, noting that the current volume of the trade turnover between the two states is too small though it has broad potentials.
An agreement was reached to set up a team to provide financial support to the two nations' export in order to expand trade relations, he told reporters.
Meanwhile, Kasyanov stressed the importance of creating a bilateral committee for cooperation at a high level, chaired by the Russian prime minister and the Brazilian vice-president.
The parties agreed to hold the next session of the committee in 2002 and set a meeting of the Russia-Brazil Intergovernmental Committee for Trade, Economic and Scientific Cooperation in 2001.
Kasyanov emphasized that the political dialogue between Russia and Brazil "is at a very high level" and both countries "have shared the position of a multi-polar world for many years."
He said Russia is ready to expand arms trade and related cooperation with Brazil and such cooperation will be discussed during the next session of bilateral commissions.
Maciel, who arrived in Moscow Thursday for a four-day visit, said in his turn that Brazil is planning active cooperation with Russia in space exploration, nuclear power engineering, aircraft and ship building and the production of natural gas.
The Russian-Brazilian trade turnover stands at one billion U.S. dollars annually, but most of Russia's imports have been sugar and coffee, with raw sugar amounting to 75 percent of the revenues, Maciel said.
He described the potential for bilateral economic cooperation as very great and called for working out balanced intergovernmental programs.
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