Damascus – Speaking to Syrian and Brazilian businessmen, president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called for a greater effort at stimulating bilateral trade, pointing out that it totalled only US$90 million in 2002, with Brazil shipping less than 1% of its exports to Syria. Lula said the two countries had to work to diversify trade. Lula said there was room for expansion in the areas of farm produce, civil engineering and pharmaceuticals.

The Syrian president, Bashar Al-Assad, agreed with Lula and added that a series of errors were responsible for the small amount of bilateral trade but that the problems could be overcome. He cited the areas of metallurgy, maritime transport and informatics. (AB)