Mme. Márcia Donner Abreu, center, the new Ambassador-designate of Brazil to Korea, greets visitors to a recent event of celebrating Brazil’s 200th anniversary of independence at a Seoul hotel. Photo by Yeo Hong-il/Korea News Plus

Amb. Abreu hopes for closer bilateral cooperation

In front of more than 300 guests, Brazilian diplomats commemorated the country’s 200th anniversary of independence in a recent event at a Seoul hotel.

Mme. Márcia Donner Abreu, the new Ambassador-designate of Brazil to Korea, said that she was enthusiastic about the opportunities to enhance partnerships between Brazil and South Korea.

Topping other things off, Abreu stressed that Korea’s recent history had shown astonishing development in overcoming the ashes of the 1950-53 Korean War to become an example across the globe.

In that regard, she said there would be ample opportunities to develop and expand relations between the two countries, which set up diplomatic ties 63 years ago.

In particular, the Brazilian envoy expressed her deep respect for the diligent Korean people staying in Brazil, who she said have been contributing to the prosperity of Brazilian society.

Her remarks came at a time when Korea and Brazil planned to mark the 60th anniversary of Korean communities’ immigration into the Latin American country next year.

Touching upon economic partnerships between Korea and Brazil, Abreu explained that Korea was the first country with which Brazil forged diplomatic relations among the Central and South American nations.

She also noted that Brazil is the largest investment target country in the region for Korean corporations as well as the No. 2 trader partner there.

Among others, Amb. Abreu hoped for the two countries to yield substantial results in the areas of science & technology innovation, 5G, semiconductor, and space aerospace fields.

To deal with such tough global issues as carbon neutrality, climate change, supply chain reshuffling, and food security, the new Brazilian ambassador hoped for closer cooperation.

In particular, she wished to see substantial results through negotiations in the MERCOSUR-Korea free trade pact in the not-so-distant future.

The negotiation of the MERCOSUR-Korea FTA started in 2018.

“The resumption of presential meetings may offer a better opportunity to achieve a balanced and mutually beneficial agreement that will contribute to increasing bilateral trade and investments,” she said.

There are thorny topics such as the agriculture business in Korea and some industries in MERCOSUR.

But Abreu remained optimistic, expecting that the two sides would be able to find a happy medium through sincere negotiations.
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