Brasília, 7/23/2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Trade and cooperation projects were at the top of the agenda during the meeting of president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Runaldo Ronald Venetiaan of Suriname yesterday. The meeting was one in a series that Lula has said he wants to extend to all of South America's leaders.

Lula and Venetiaan had their meeting at the Foreign Ministry (Palacio do Itamaraty), which was followed by lunch. The Suriname president was accompanied by members of his cabinet, the ministers of Foreign Relations, Finance, Public Works, Health, Education and Community Development, Justice and Police, Transportation, Communications and Tourism. They discussed issues with their Brazilian counterparts: Foreign Relations, Celso Amorim; Transportation, Anderson Adauto; Education, Cristovam Buarque; Communications, Miro Teixeira; and Tourism, Walfrido Mares Guia; along with representatives of Finance and Health. (AB)