Colombia expects $1.4 bi in private investments from Brazil

Colombian President Iván Duque said he expects approximately $1.4 billion in private investments from Brazil in a number of fields. To meet this goal, commitments were forged during the assembly, held in São Paulo on Tuesday (Oct. 19), with over 60 Brazilian business people. According to Duque, the amount may surpass $2.4 billion if investments in infrastructure are added.

Iván Duque arrived in Brazil Monday (18) and met the following morning with President Jair Bolsonaro to discuss different topics on the bilateral agenda. Deals and memorandums were signed in such fields as air services, agriculture, research and development, environment and sanitation, security and border cooperation, trade and investments, and professional training.

“These are great trade and investment ties that we want to continue strengthening,” Duque told the press at the Planalto presidential palace in Brasília after the meeting.

Colombia is one of Brazil’s main commercial partners in Latin America, with a bilateral exchange of $3.6 billion in 2020. In the first eight months of 2021, the trade between the two countries grew nearly 50 percent from the year prior, and, according to Brazil’s Foreign Ministry, may close out the year higher than pre-pandemic levels.

Amazon

Both Bolsonaro and Duque mentioned their common interest in the preservation of the Amazon. They plan on raising the topic at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP26, to take place in Glasgow in November.

“The Amazon for us is a valuable territory and we take care of it within our sovereignty. It is important that this defense carries with it an efficient fight against environmental crime,” Duque declared.

At COP26, he went on to argue, it is necessary to make clear the willingness of the countries in the region to protect this territory, underscoring the forest’s capacity to remove carbon from the atmosphere.

“A reiteration that our voice is not just for energy transition and slashing [greenhouse effect gas] emissions, but also for reaching carbon neutrality through the protection of tropical forests and the Amazon,” the Colombian president noted.