Brazilian president reaffirms need for new economic order

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva reaffirmed on Monday the need for a new global economic order, with technology transfer to the poorer countries and aid against hunger.

In his weekly radio show, President Lula commented on his trip to Isla Margarita, Venezuela, where he took part in the South America-Africa Summit. According to the president, the meeting was very important to the international trade.

“We are the majority of the countries in the world,” he said, referring to the South American and African countries. “Therefore, we have to use this strength in the global management decisions.”

Lula also commented about his participation on the G20 Summit, which took place in Pittsburgh, the United States. According to him, the two meetings were “a life lesson” and showed him the difference between the rich and poor countries’ stances.

Lula said that the G20 meeting was a confirmation that the G20 has replaced the G8 as the forum which will discuss the most important economic matters in the world from now on.

Now more countries will sit down together to negotiate and discuss common problems, he said.

Lula also stressed that the emerging countries, which participate in the G20, managed an important achievement in the meeting: the increase of their participation in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and in the World Bank.

Additionally, Lula also commented on the Rio bid to host the 2016 Olympics. According to him, Brazil is one of the 10 largest economies in the world and has the right to host the Olympic Games; the country is the only one among the four candidates that never host the Games.

The International Olympic Committee will make its final decision on the matter on Friday. The other candidates are the U.S. city of Chicago, Tokyo and Madrid.