Uruguay wants Mercosur to advance dialogue with China or allow bilateral agreement

RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Uruguay wants the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) to advance in a trade agreement with China or facilitate a bilateral agreement that could serve all of South America, Uruguayan Foreign Minister Omar Paganini said Wednesday during the bloc's summit in Rio de Janeiro.

The official defended a greater economic opening of the group, which also consists of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, as he did at this year's meeting in Puerto Iguazu, Argentina, where Montevideo was left out of the final declaration.

"As we have pointed out many times, for Uruguay it is essential to achieve preferential access to the most dynamic economies in the world," Paganini said, noting that Mercosur has lost ground with advancing bilateral agreements in the world.

"We said, and our president (Luis Lacalle Pou) has reiterated, that we want the whole world, all of Mercosur to advance with China, but if Uruguay can advance at a faster speed, we also believe that this serves Mercosur as a whole," he added.

To achieve this progress, the minister suggested reactivating the Mercosur-China dialogue mechanism.

"It has been five years since the last meeting. Five years in which the world has become more challenging and no one is oblivious of China's leading role in this context," Paganini said.

Montevideo has sought to do business with China, but has run up against Mercosur rules, which oblige member countries to adopt a Common External Tariff on imports.