Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Brazil - first Latin American country to re-open embassy in Iraq
Brazil will be the first Latin American country to reopen its embassy in Iraq since the 1991 Gulf War, local media said on Friday. Brazilian Ambassador Bernardo de Azevedo Brito presented his credential to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in Bagdad this week. Brito, however, will keep living in Amman, Jordan's capital, until Iraq offers safer conditions, as it would be excessively expensive to resume operations in the Brazilian Embassy's former building in the Iraqi capital.
According to the ambassador, Brazil envisions doing business with the currently unstable country. He said the fact that Brazil did not support the U.S.-led military invasion, which deposed former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, does not mean it does not wish to participate in the reconstruction of Iraq. Iraq offers great opportunities for food exports, such as beef and poultry meat, in transportation equipments, including airplanes, and in the construction and medical service sectors, said Brito, adding bilateral relations will help Iraq's oil and gas industry to purchase services and technology from Brazil.
There is plenty to do and there is room for everyone, he said. In the 1980s, Brazil was an important supplier of industrialized products to Iraq, and it imported significant volumes of oil from Iraq. At that time, trade between the two countries reached up to 4 billion U.S. dollars per year.
According to the ambassador, Brazil envisions doing business with the currently unstable country. He said the fact that Brazil did not support the U.S.-led military invasion, which deposed former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, does not mean it does not wish to participate in the reconstruction of Iraq. Iraq offers great opportunities for food exports, such as beef and poultry meat, in transportation equipments, including airplanes, and in the construction and medical service sectors, said Brito, adding bilateral relations will help Iraq's oil and gas industry to purchase services and technology from Brazil.
There is plenty to do and there is room for everyone, he said. In the 1980s, Brazil was an important supplier of industrialized products to Iraq, and it imported significant volumes of oil from Iraq. At that time, trade between the two countries reached up to 4 billion U.S. dollars per year.
