ANKARA – Brazil and Turkey took advantage of a two-day bilateral summit to re-launch their long-standing but modest economic ties with an emphasis on new avenues of cooperation in sectors such as energy, aeronautics, automobiles and textiles.
The visit by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva concluded Friday with both countries pledging to invigorate a relationship begun 151 years ago with the signing of an accord between Brazil’s emperor and the Ottoman sultan.
In a symbolic gesture, Turkish President Abdullah Gül presented Lula with a copy of that document and stressed that his visit opens a new phase in bilateral relations.
Energy will play an essential role in this new stage and an oil prospecting accord signed Friday by Brazil’s state-owned oil company, Petrobras, and the Turkish Petroleum Corp. is a key part of those plans.
The importance of that agreement was highlighted by both presidents, who also expressed interest in cooperating on new energy technologies and the production of ethanol and biodiesel.
Gül underscored Brazil’s success in producing sugar-based ethanol and stressed Turkey’s goal of developing that industry as well, while Lula proposed that Turkey and Brazil invest in biodiesel and ethanol production in African countries.
The two presidents also agreed on the need to establish direct commercial flights between Sao Paulo and Istanbul.
Meanwhile, business leaders and politicians who participated in bilateral meetings over the past two days expressed their disappointment over the continued low volume of trade between Turkey and Brazil.
Even though bilateral commerce was valued at $1.8 billion in 2008, 400 percent more than in 1999, experts said that total is still low considering the potential for trade between Turkey and Brazil.
In that sense, Lula said that the current global economic crisis is creating opportunities to find new partners and that his visit to Turkey was part of such a strategy.
Brazilian authorities, whose country is home to the world’s third-leading aircraft maker, Embraer, also expressed interest in jointly manufacturing planes with Turkey. EFE
Source: www.laht.com, May 24,2009