Brazilian leader in Africa to bolster ties, U.N. bid

February 8, 2006
CNN
Original Source: http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/02/08/Brazil.trade.reut/index.html
ALGIERS, Algeria (Reuters) -- Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva flew to Algeria on Wednesday at the start of an African trip to foster business ties and build support for his country's campaign for a permanent U.N. Security Council seat.
Lula's tour of Algeria, Benin, Botswana and South Africa is part of Brazil's effort to forge a common front of developing countries to push for fairer global trade and more representation in the United Nations.
It is his fifth visit to the continent since he took office in January 2003.
In a telephone briefing before his departure, Lula told Algerian media both countries would gain from promoting business links, including ties between their state energy companies.
Our two giants, Petrobras and Sonatrach, can develop an enormous partnership to work together, here or in Brazil or in third markets, he said, according to a transcript of the briefing published in Wednesday's newspapers.
Brazilian diplomats say they can do business and exert influence in Africa. By the end of 2006, the Lula government will have increased the number of Brazilian embassies in Africa by more than 50 percent to 27, including a new post in Benin.
The world's fourth-largest democracy, Brazil is trying to establish itself as a global diplomatic force and wants a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council.
They will also tackle international issues, a visiting Brazilian foreign ministry official told Reuters. They will probably discuss U.N. Security Council reform.
Trade deficit
Lula wants to cut Brazil's $2.8 billion trade deficit with Algeria, its largest in Africa, which stems from petroleum imports from the North African oil and gas producer.
Brazil offers excellent possibilities -- cars, heavy vehicles, road engineering services, ports, dams, bridges, railways, radar systems, agricultural development and medicine, Lula said in his briefing.
We want to build cooperation in these sectors and prove to Algerians that in choosing Brazil they have made a good choice.
Algeria's public finances are healthy and the value of its oil and gas exports reached $45.6 billion in 2005, up 45 percent from a year earlier. The country's foreign exchange reserves totalled $56 billion at the end of last November.
Lula said Brazilian agricultural research agency Embrapa and Sebrae, a national body that supports small businesses, harboured development expertise that could help Algeria.
He was due to hold talks with President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, his co-host at a summit in Brazil of South American and Arab leaders last year that sought to build business and political links. Lula flies on to Benin on Thursday.
Lula is trying to arrange a meeting of leaders of the G8 group of rich nations and the G20 group of developing nations on the sidelines of a governance summit near Pretoria, South Africa.
As a G20 leader and a big agriculture exporter, Brazil is seeking a breakthrough in the Doha round of the World Trade Organisation. Brasilia said last week that talks could stall if Europe did not grant further market access to farm products.
Brazilian ambassador to Algeria Sergio Franca Danese said in remarks published by Algerian newspapers on Tuesday that military cooperation would also be on the agenda.
Brazil's trade with Africa has more than doubled during Lula's administration to $10.7 billion in 2005, due largely to higher oil prices that inflated imports from Algeria and Nigeria.