Rio, March 17, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva returned to Brasília, yesterday (16), after spending the morning in a meeting with Argentinean President Nestor Kirchner. Their meeting resulted in the "Copacabana Act," a joint communique in which the two Presidents assume political commitments and pledge cooperation in bilateral and regional relations. The occasion also served for the promulgation of the Declaration on Cooperation for Equitable Economic Growth, in which the President proposes that agreements with international financial institutions preserve growth as an essential component of primary surplus targets.

According to the Minister of Foreign Relations, Celso Amorim, the document considers the surplus a guarantee of sustainability but places priority on economic growth. The idea is for investments in infrastructure not to be computed as expenses, when primary surplus targets are determined. Another proposal is for investments made with loans from international development agencies, such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the World Bank (IBRD), to receive special fiscal treatment, as well.

In sixty days specialists from the economic area of the two governments will meet to analyze the feasibility of the proposals contained in the document. (DAS)