Sierra Leone and Brazil seal bilateral pact

President Ernest Bai Koroma has signed a bilateral agreement with the Brazilian President Lula da Silva.

The agreement, mutually endorsed by both Heads of State, was signed by the two countries’ Foreign Ministers, Zainab Bangura of Sierra Leone and Celso Amorim of Brazil.

It calls for the establishment of diplomatic missions in both countries, bilateral trade, technology transfer, and visa exempt for Sierra Leonean holders of diplomatic, service/official passports.

. President Lula said “it’s going to open the floodgates so that our relationship can flourish

.Brazil is joining the international community to support Sierra Leone’s battle to overcome the traumatic civil war.

In the peace building commission, we are struggling to strengthen the institutional capacity of Sierra Leone.

Brazil’s experience in Haiti and in Guinea Bissau leaves no doubts that without economic and social development, there will not be lasting peace.”

President Koroma said “We cannot have a better moment, as we find in President Lula a man committed to promoting this cooperation

As a government, we have outlined the possible areas where we expect to get support, like energy, infrastructure development, and agriculture.. In the private sectors, we have started oil exploration and we want Brazil to help us become a leader in sea exploration, not only to assist in oil exploration, but also to help us put in place the infrastructure that we require to maximize the benefits from the potential that we have.”

As an immediate follow-up, Brazil is sending a high-powered delegation before the end of the year to specifically look at areas of possible intervention ranging from health to agriculture, information technology, fisheries and education.

President Koroma also visited the Brazilian Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Supreme Court to respectively hold separate discussions with Senate President Jose Sarvey, House Leader Michel Temer and Supreme Court President Gilmor Mendes, all of whom underlined the importance of formalizing the relationship between Sierra Leone and Brazil.

He also visited the headquarters of the world renowned agricultural centre, Embrapa, where he held discussions in relation to getting assistance in agricultural production.