Partners
in the Americas: Defining the Canada-Brazil
Relationship
Notes For an Address by The Hon. David Kilgour
Secretary
of State (Latin America And Africa)
To the Canada-Brazil
Chamber of Commerce
Monday, December
17, 2001
Sao Paulo,
Brazil
Greetings,
Bonjour, Bom Dia!
Today I’d
like to talk about the Brazilian-Canadian
relationship from the Canadian perspective
- highlighting where we think we stand and
how we envision the future. But first, let
me put things in the context of our commitment
to hemispheric relations; then I’ll
tell you about Canada’s enthusiasm
toward strengthening bilateral ties with
Brazil.
First and
foremost, Canada is strongly committed to
helping shape the economic future of the
Americas to bring increased prosperity to
all our nationals.
If you have
any doubt where the Americas lie in the
overall scheme of Canadian foreign policy,
I offer the following quote from Prime Minister
Jean Chretien’s address to a Special
Session of the Organization of American
States on February 5, 2001 in Washington:
“My
friends, working with you to make our vision
of A Grande Familia of the Americas a reality
is a cornerstone of Canadian foreign policy.
For many years, the Maple Leaf flag did
not hang in this historic room. Canadians
felt that our national journey was taking
a different path than that of the Americas.
Those days are gone. Forever.”
More than
one third of our Gross Domestic Product
now depends upon exports, as Canadians understand
in ways that perhaps few other countries
do the importance of making win-win connections
and the power of maintaining them.
This is why
we are committed to greater hemispheric
integration. To achieve this goal, we must
develop strong relationships with key regional
partners.
By 2005,
the Western Hemisphere will represent the
largest free trade area in the world, with
a combined GDP of $15 trillion and a population
of about 800 million. Neither governments
nor businesses can ignore such numbers;
neither have.
We want to
make it easier to do business in the Americas
through the Free Trade Area of the Americas
Agreement. It will hopefully have provisions
covering non-discriminatory treatment of
investment, traditional dispute settlement
mechanisms, and clear enforceable rules
of trade.
Experience
has shown us the benefits of reducing trade
barriers. The Canada-US Free Trade Agreement
and the North American Free Trade Agreement
are clear proof of the success Mexico Canada,
the U.S. have experienced with fewer barriers.
For example,
since NAFTA was put into place in 1994,
Canadian exports to Mexico have risen 127%.
In the first five years, our investments
in Mexico grew 324%.
And it’s
a two-way street. During the first seven
years of implementation, Mexico’s trade
with its NAFTA partners tripled. Specifically,
trade between Mexico and Canada has increased
by 199 percent - making Mexico Canada’s
fourth largest trading partner and Canada
Mexico’s second largest export market
after the United States.
In addition,
since NAFTA the average annual Foreign Direct
Investment in Mexico has tripled. Overall
the NAFTA experience has been very positive
for Mexico from every perspective and especially
the jobs one. It has lead to the diversification
of Mexico’s exports, expansion of their
ability to export to new regions, and generation
of much-needed employment.
The Free
Trade Area of the Americas (the FTAA) will
be a comprehensive, modern trade agreement
for all 34 democratic nations of the Western
Hemisphere. There is no turning back on
Canada’s commitment to it.
We are eager
to work with Brazil, and other countries
of the Americas on this initiative, to build
a great future for this hemisphere - a future
united by common interests and concerns,
and energized by our respective peoples.
So where
are we on the FTAA?
As you know,
the leaders of the hemisphere set a target
date of 2005 for the coming into force of
the FTAA, and we are on schedule. Officials
within Canada’s Foreign Affairs and
International Trade Department and throughout
the hemisphere are working to identify and
elaborate concrete business measures for
governments to implement by 2005.
We are at
the beginning of a long negotiating process
in which everyone will defend their own
interests. This will involve ‘give
and take’ on all sides. In the end,
each of us will have to decide if the agreement
is beneficial.
With our
economies in difficulty, in part as a result
of the September 11th events, the FTAA by
2005 remains a central pillar of many efforts
to promote growth and expand economic opportunities.
Given the current global climate, does it
not make sense to build on relationships
that already work?
SUMMIT OF
THE AMERICAS
The Summit
of the Americas is about more than trade.
It is a determined
effort by the Western leaders to discuss
common issues and seek solutions to shared
problems. The first meeting took place in
Miami in 1994, followed by Santiago in 1998,
and most recently in Quebec City last April.
The Summit
process seeks to create prosperity, but
also to strengthen democracy and to realize
human potential through improved education
and health. The follow-up and implementation
of the action plan are key to the success
of the entire process.
One of the
most significant advances in the process,
both practically and symbolically, was the
signing on September 11th of the Inter-American
Democratic Charter, inspired by the Mercosur
example. The Charter provides all of us
with a new instrument with which to reinforce
and protect representative democracy.
Under the
Charter, when it is determined that there
has been an unconstitutional interruption
of the democratic order of a member state
- the offending member state may be temporarily
suspended from the Organization of American
States.
CONNECTIVITY
Connectivity
is another bold initiative to come out of
the Quebec Summit.
We have all
heard of the digital divide. Individuals
who are able to access and harness the power
of technology are leaping ahead of those
who can’t.
In Quebec,
Prime Minister Chretien announced that Canada
would contribute 30 million reais to the
creation of the Institute of Connectivity
in the Americas (or the ICA). The purpose,
of course, is to decrease the digital divide.
The ICA is Canada’s contribution to
the common goals supported by hemispheric
leaders. It builds on the success of our
own information and communication technology
programs. Much progress has already been
made and the institute is expected to be
fully operational by Spring 2002.
Brazil is
already a world-wide leader in the use of
information technology. I understand that
80% of e-commerce in Latin America is done
out of Brazil. This country is also a pioneer
in e-government and a leader in electronic
banking. I am particularly impressed by
the electronic voting system in place in
Brazil, which some other countries could
use! Canada and Brazil can work together
in this area.
IMPORTANCE
OF BRAZIL
Now let me
turn to our bilateral relationship. Canada
fully recognises the importance of Brazil:
• With
a gross domestic product of $US 600 billion,
roughly the same size as that of Canada,
as well as with the largest population in
Latin America, Brazil is by far the most
powerful economy in South America. It is
also Canada’s largest trading partner
south of NAFTA.
• In
terms of Canadian direct foreign investment,
Brazil is number 3. Unofficial estimates
put the total in Brazil at $US 7- to- 8
billion.
• Brazil
is one of only 15 markets to which Canada
exports more than $1 billion dollars. For
the past five years, your country has consistently
ranked among the top 15 Canadian export
markets.
• Canadian
companies are making significant advances
here in the areas of telecommunications,
information technology, energy, the environment,
and more.
• Over
1000 Canadian companies are now active in
Brazil and over 110 of those have established
offices here.
These are
figures which no one can ignore. For many
years, the Canada-Brazil relationship has
been overshadowed by sectoral disputes.
As we strive
to place these differences in a more appropriate
context, Canada is now focussed on developing
a more strategic relationship with Brazil.
So what is
Canada doing to enhance the relationship?
Our Department
of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
has targeted Brazil as a strategic partner
with which we wish to broaden and deepen
bilateral trade, as well as economic and
political relations.
In 2001,
we launched an Interdepartmental Working
Group on Brazil. This group is comprised
of over 25 government departments and agencies,
including Health, Industry, Agriculture
and the Environment. The purpose is to create
and strengthen bilateral ties through government-wide
co-ordinated initiatives. The initiatives
will take many forms, including trade missions,
high-level visits, increased services at
our missions in Brazil, seminars, meetings,
and bilateral agreements.
We will continue
to strengthen our dialogue with Brazil on
our respective experiences as large federations
and multiply academic and cultural initiatives.
In the past
months, there have been a number of high-level
encounters between Canada and Brazil, encouraged
in part by the Strategy of the Interdepartmental
Working Group on Brazil.
There was
the recent visit to Canada of the Minister
of Labour, Francisco Dornelles, for the
Inter-American Conference of Ministers of
Labour held in Ottawa last October, where
he met with my colleague, Labour Minister
Claudette Bradshaw.
That meeting
lead to the signature of a Memorandum of
Understanding between Brazil and Canada
on labour issues. This agreement exemplifies
the type of efforts needed to place the
past behind us and strengthen our future.
Since 1999,
as part of our International Business Development
initiatives, Canada has supported over 30
business missions both at the federal and
provincial levels. We are seeking to increase
that number. This month, Industry Canada
sent an Energy and Environmental Technologies
Mission to Sao Paulo.
A number
of trade missions are already planned for
2002, including agri-food and e-health missions
in the spring and a health products mission
in June.
My key message
is that the relationship between Canada
and Brazil has enormous potential for development.
Yes - it is already wide and diverse. We
collaborate successfully on key issues,
including democracy, human rights and regional
security.
But we need
to strengthen our bilateral relations and
to expand and deepen our trade linkages.
There are enormous benefits for both of
our peoples in being strategic allies and
in fostering positive changes in the hemisphere.
Canada and
Brazil could be seen as a married couple
with our highs and lows, “tender moments”,
disagreements and even clashes. Although
bilateral relations have been established
60 years ago, they really intensified in
the last decade. In the life of countries,
this is a very short time, so perhaps we
are like a young couple.
We need
to know each other better and, although
there is lots of ‘passionate love’,
as the old adage says, good marriages don’t
just happen by chance. They need daily work
and determination. This is exactly what
Canada intends to bring to our partnership.
Muito obrigado.
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