20 february 2013

Sixth meeting of the Russian-Brazilian high-level commission on cooperation

During a visit to the Federative Republic of Brazil Dmitry Medvedev meets with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and Brazilian Vice President Michel Temer.

Then Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Vice President of Brazil Michel Temer chaired the sixth meeting of the Russian-Brazilian High-Level Commission on Cooperation, at the end of which several documents were signed:

 – Joint statement of the sixth meeting of the Russian-Brazilian High-Level Commission on Cooperation;   – Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of the Federative Republic of Brazil on cooperation in the implementation of the educational programme Science Without Borders;

 –Action Plan for implementing the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Field of Governance and Legacy for the Organisation of Olympic and Paralympic Games and the FIFA World Cup;

  – Agreement between the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock Production and Food Supply of the Federative Republic of Brazil regarding phytosanitary requirements and ensuring the quality and safety of wheat exported from the Russian Federation to the Federative Republic of Brazil;

– Memorandum of Understanding in the field of small and medium-sized businesses between the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation and the Secretariat for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses at the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade of the Federative Republic of Brazil;

– Declaration of Intent between the Federal Service for Military and Technological Cooperation of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Defence of the Federative Republic of Brazil in the area of anti-aircraft defence;

– Agreement between Research and Production Corporation Precision Instrumentation Systems and the University of Brasilia to install a quantum optics station in the university to determine the slant range to spacecraft.

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Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev makes a press statement after Russia-Brazil negotiations

Transcript:

Dmitry Medvedev: Mr. Vice President, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to begin my remarks by expressing our profound gratitude to our Brazilian colleagues and Vice President of the Federal Republic of Brazil for the warm welcome accorded to our delegation. We had productive discussions on conceptual issues with President Dilma Rousseff followed by a meeting of our high-level commission.

Our relations have seen a fundamental change: we meet quite often now. Mr Vice-President just mentioned the visit of the President of Brazil to the Russian Federation. Now, the commission is meeting. This is indicative that the regularity degree of our meeting became different and this is also indicative of the strategic nature of our relations based on mutual understanding and trust. Our relationships are defined by the role of our economies that are growing fairly rapidly, our relations with our BRICS and other partners. In other words, we have a stable relationship. Today’s meeting of the Commission was dedicated to expanding trade and economic cooperation. Our trade relations have been changing over the past years: they have been expanding with new opportunities.

Yet, our economies feel the impact of the global economic crisis and other destabilising factors. Thus, it’s important that we use our meetings to outline new projects and compare notes on various aspects of our trade and economic cooperation. I believe that our goal of bringing trade to about $10 billion a year is quite achievable given the potential of our economies. I hope it will be achieved in the coming years.

I’m talking about relations in all areas. My colleague, Mr Vice President, has just mentioned some of them. Of course, this includes industrial and agricultural products, high technology, space exploration, and a number of new projects that we would like to carry out, including projects in the energy sector, not just hydrocarbons, but other areas as well, including nuclear energy. I believe the technology alliance that we are planning will be beneficial for our people.

During our in-depth conversation we covered all matters, including economic issues. The conversation that we have just had was very specific, and I would like to thank my colleague for the positive atmosphere - it’s all his doing. We talked about agriculture, including wheat and livestock trade. I believe that this useful dialogue will continue, and we will see many new and interesting projects come up in these and other areas.

Cultural cooperation is no less important. Today, we spoke about research and education projects. We are anxious for Brazilian students to come to Russia and we are interested in the renowned educational initiative Science without Borders. We believe this will benefit everyone.

Of course, sports events are also important. Our countries will host major sports events in the near future: the Olympic Games and FIFA World Cups. We count on Brazil’s experience and are also prepared to share our expertise. We have a lot to do in this area in the near future.

We compared notes on the international political agenda during our conversation with Ms President and during the meeting of our high-level commission. We discussed our relations in the UN, during the G20 meetings currently presided over by Russia, and of course in BRICS where our countries develop a common vision for economic growth. I believe we have almost reached a consensus on major international economic issues, which is important given the ongoing instability in global finance and economy.

In closing, I would like to express my total satisfaction with our negotiations and the documents that we have signed on this antique table. I would like once again to thank my colleagues and personally Vice President Michel Temer. Thank you.