The Minister of Industry, Trade and Services, Marcos Pereira, participated on Monday (17) in the German city of Weimar, the 34th Economic Forum Brazil-Germany, one of the most important bilateral arrangements maintained between the two countries.

To an audience of nearly 500 German and Brazilian businessmen, Marcos Pereira talked about the importance of bilateral partnership in various aspects, including the development of the Brazilian industry policy 4.0.

"It is impossible to talk about opportunities for cooperation and business between Brazil and Germany without talking about technology and innovation," said the minister.According to him, the German model of advanced manufacturing is one of the main references for Brazil. "The convergence between the physical and virtual world in the factories, in the near future, integrate global value chain from design of a product to the end customer," he said.

The minister detailed the Brazilian proposal, which has five strategic areas: the technologies in question; the configuration of the value chain; appropriate training of human resources; the regulatory framework; and the necessary infrastructure.

Marcos Pereira also highlighted the importance of the EU-Mercosur agreement to stimulate trade between Brazil and Germany. "This trade, as absolutely relevant, should be promoted. The signing of a free trade agreement between the main initiative for integration in Latin America and the most advanced regional integration experience we have in the world can represent extremely significant increase in bilateral trade" he said.

In 2015, Brazil exported over US $ 5 billion to Germany, which was the fifth biggest market for our exports. Imports increased from US $ 10 billion last year, when Germany was the fourth largest trading partner of Brazil, reaching a trade of over $ 15 billion.

", Along with Mercosur partners, engaged in permanent dialogue with local productive sectors, and the CNI key partner for the improvement of supply of the block. Brazil and Germany as leaders in Mercosur and the European Union respectively, play an important role to drive this negotiation, "the minister emphasized.

In closing his speech, the minister said that Brazil finally overcame the political crisis. "The political stability creates conditions for overcoming the economic turmoil that still we recover a heritage of past efforts," he said.

Source: Portal Brazil, with information from the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Services