Colombia will seek to negotiate trade and technology agreements with the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced during his visit to the state’s capital city of the same name.
Santos, who wraps up his two day visit to Brazil Thursday, told media following a meeting with Sao Paulo governor Alberto Goldman that “we talked about the state of Sao Paulo working with Colombia on aspects that are outstanding here, for example the production of ethanol, which is of great interest to us in Colombia.”
Santos said that they had also discussed cooperation in the agricultural sector, which he described as “one of our driving interests.”
“We agreed that the governor will visit Cartagena in the month of October. We will interchange delegations and we’ll see whether cooperation is a possibility,” continued the Colombian president, who chose Brazil as the destination for his first official visit since taking office on August 7.
Santos labelled Sao Paulo “the axis of Brazil’s dynamic economy” that has “important experience” which Colombia should make the most of.
During his time in Sao Paulo Thursday, Santos also met with the former governor of the state and current Brazilian Presidential candidate Jose Serra, as well as a group of Colombian businessmen based in the state’s capital.
Before returning to Colombia Thursday evening, Santos will meet with members of the influential Federation of Industries of the State of Sao Paulo (FIESP) and well as Brazilian Green Party presidential candidate Marina Silva.
During Santos’ two day visit to Brazil, Santos also met with Brazilian President Lula da Silva and signed eight cooperation agreements. He also called for Brazil to support Colombia’s fight for peace by putting the FARC in their rightful place and label them as terrorists.
