Published 03/28/2024 18:47 | Edited 03/29/2024 15:05
On the last day of the official visit, presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, from Brazil, and Emmanuel Macron, from France, signed, this Thursday (28), at Palácio do Planalto, in Brasília, 21 bilateral cooperation agreements. On his first visit to the country, Macron toured the Amazon region and the southeast.
Among the 21 commitments signed are the creation of an Amazonian biodiversity research center and legal cooperation between countries in criminal matters. The list also includes plans for a partnership between the Guiana Amazon Park, in French Guiana, and the Tumucumaque Mountains National Park, in Amapá and Pará.
The ceremony in Brasília began just over an hour later than scheduled, at 12:40 pm.
The French president walked through Praça dos Três Poderes in review of Brazilian troops and met Lula at the top of the Planalto ramp. Then, they went to the parlor where they saw the cavalry passing by.
They then had a bilateral meeting that lasted about two hours. After signing joint acts between the countries, Lula decorated Macron with the Order of the Southern Cross. After that, it was the Frenchman’s turn to decorate the Brazilian first lady, Janja da Silva, naming her an officer of the Legion of Honor. He explained that Lula has already received the same honor in the highest degree, knighthood.
In their speeches, the presidents highlighted the importance of bilateral agreements to consolidate the Brazil-France partnership and classified the dialogue between the two countries as a “bridge” in favor of overcoming structural inequalities and creating a more sustainable planet.
“Brazil and France are determined to work together to promote, through democratic debate, a shared vision of the world”, stressed Lula. “A vision based on the priority of production over unproductive finance, solidarity over selfishness, democracy over totalitarianism, sustainability over predatory exploitation.
”Lula highlighted that among the traditional powers, none is closer to Brazil than France. According to him, in the current highly complex context of the international scenario, the dialogue between the two countries represents a bridge between the Global South and the developed world in favor of overcoming structural inequalities and creating a more sustainable planet.
The Brazilian president recalled that Macron can personally see Brazil’s commitment to the environment, that in the last year, illegal deforestation in the Amazon was reduced by 50% and reaffirmed the commitment to eliminate it by 2030.
In his speech, Lula also said that the new partnerships between the two countries will cover areas such as financing the ecological and energy transition, bioeconomy, agriculture, digital issues, artificial intelligence, human rights and gender equality, which will now occupy our bilateral agenda. .
“This range of issues is reflected in the more than 20 agreements we have signed today. We talked about the economic success of the Brazil-France Forum, held in São Paulo, and which had not met in person since 2019. We examined ways to expand and diversify trade which, last year, reached 8.4 billion dollars, and which can and should grow much more.”
Among the signed agreements:
1) New Brazil-France Strategic Partnership Action Plan
2) Addendum to the International Legal Cooperation Agreement in Criminal Matters
3) Declaration of Intent on the Resumption of the Franco-Brazilian Center for Amazonian Biodiversity
4) Letter of Intent on Cooperation between the Guiana Amazon Park and the Tumucumaque Mountains Park
5) Declaration of Intent Regarding Strengthening Cooperation in the Fight against Illegal Mining
6) Declaration of Intent on Dialogue for Transition and Energy Security and Strategic Minerals (DTSEM)
7) Declaration of Intent on Critical Raw Materials
8) Memorandum of Understanding on Modernization of Public Management
9) Declaration of Intent in Matters of Civil Protection and Defense
10) Memorandum of Understanding for Cooperation in Regional Sustainable Development Projects
11) Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Cities
12) Letter of Intent on Health Cooperation
13) Declaration of Intent Aimed at Strengthening Franco-Brazilian Cooperation in Order to Guarantee the Integrity of the Information Space
14) Declaration of Intent in the Field of Training Basic Education Professionals and the Promotion of Plurilingualism
15) Letter of Intent on Sports Cooperation
16) Security Agreement Regarding the Exchange of Classified and Protected Information
17) Memorandum of Understanding on Financing for Development, Climate and Gender
18) Protocol of Intent between BNDES and AFD
19) Memorandum of Understanding for EMBRAPA-CIRAD Technical Cooperation
20) Memorandum of Understanding for EMBRAPA-IRD Technical Cooperation
21) Protocol of Intent between Banco da Amazônia (BASA) and AFD.
Source: vermelho.org.br
