Foreign trade

In the CAE, Secretary states that Ministry of Economy brought trade policy to the heart of economic policy

The Secretary of Foreign Trade and International Affairs (Secint) of the Ministry of Economy, Marcos Troyjo, spoke at the invitation of the Committee on Economic Affairs (CAE) of the Federal Senate on 9/7 for approximately two hours on Brazilian trade policy and the historic agreement between Mercosur and the European Union, signed in Brussels (Belgium) on 28 June.

The secretary had an opening address and then answered questions from the senators.

Troyjo said that the agreement, negotiated for 20 years between the two blocs, will make Brazil grow in a sustainable way. "There is no example of economic success in the world without greater openness to international trade," he said.

He also pointed out that cases of success in economic policy go hand in hand with trade policy. "The economic under-performance of Brazil over the last 40 years has to do with the fact that we have remained an isolated country with very low commercial current," he said.

Therefore, one of the fundamental factors for the conclusion of the Mercosur negotiations with the European Union, according to the secretary, was the new constitution of the Ministry of Economy in Brazil, which "brought trade policy into the heart of economic policy."

For Troyjo, the lack of international agreements, with privileged access to some of the great markets of the world, is part of the weight that the Brazilian State has left on the shoulders of the entrepreneurs. "We're correcting that," he said.

But he warns that trade agreements are not cures for all ills. "If we do not make the reforms, we will not succeed. The big trade agreement that Brazil has to make is with itself," he said.

Also attending the public hearing were the Secretary of Foreign Trade, Lucas Ferraz, Undersecretary for International Negotiations of the Foreign Trade Secretariat, Alexandre Lobo, and the Secretary for Development of Industry, Commerce, Services and Innovation of the Ministry of Economy, Caio Megale.