United States Ambassador says that FTAA negotiations are at a critical stage

31/07/2003 - 21h57

Rio, August 1, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The United States Ambassador to Brazil, Donna Hrinak, said that discussions about the implantation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) are passing through a critical stage.

She explained that, despite differences in their positions, Brazil and the United States can reach an accord. "We have to see what kind of progress we shall make in Cancun, at the World Trade Organization negotiating round. This also has an influence on what we shall be able to do in the hemisphere," she explained, following a luncheon at the American Chamber of Commerce, in Rio de Janeiro.

Hrinak believes that the FTAA will go into effect in 2005. "I think it's feasible. The two Presidents committed themselves to this date, reaffirming a commitment made nine years ago." In her opinion, the major difficulty to making the FTAA a reality is to reconcile the interests of 34 countries that are so different. At the luncheon she told the entrepreneurs who attended the meeting that cooperation between the United States and Brazil exists in many areas. The Ambassador cited the example of the two governments' assistance in developing the fight against Aids in Africa, beginning with Mozambique and Angola.

The Ambassador also commented on the historical importance of the meeting, last June 20, between Presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, of Brazil, and George W. Bush, of the United States, in Washington. Hrinak explained that, as a general rule, these meetings are held at the chancellery level, and the fact that this one took place between Presidents, in her view, "reflects an exceptional bilateral relationship." (DAS)