Mercosur summit discusses economics, partnerships and lifting the poor out of poverty

Yesterday president Dilma Rousseff went to Luque, in Paraguay, for a summit of Southern Cone Common Market – Mercosur (Mercosul in Portuguese) member and associate member states. The founding member states are Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

While in Paraguay, Dilma signed six agreements with president Fernando Lugo and held separate meetings with him on a number of issues of mutual interest. Brazil-Paraguay commerce reached almost $3.2 billion in 2010, up 39%, compared to 2009. This year, up to May, total bilateral trade was $1.3 billion, with Brazil exporting goods worth $1.1 billion.

As for Mercosur, total trade in 2010 was $44.55 billion, of which $39.22 billion went into or out of Brazil. This year, with total trade up to May at $17.9 billion, it is up 27%, compared to the same period in 2010.

The presidents of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, and Argentina, Cristina Kirchner, were absent from the summit, both with health problems.