Europe announces R$ 242 billion in investments in Latin America and the Caribbean – 07/17/2023 – Market

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced this Monday morning (17) that the European Union will invest an additional €45 billion (R$242 billion) in Latin America and the Caribbean, as part of the Global Gateway program.

The announcement took place at the opening of the business forum at the Celac-UE summit, which runs until this Tuesday in Brussels, Belgium. The event brings together leaders from the 33 countries of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) and the 25 of the European Union (EU).

“Today, I want to launch our investment agenda for €45 billion for Latin America and the Caribbean. Together, we are going to prioritize the sectors that will receive this money”, said von der Leyen.

“Global Gateway doesn’t just make a difference because of its size. It creates a new approach and a new way to invest in new projects. It is fundamental that the investment stays in place.”

The general program foresees, until 2027, a total investment of € 300 billion (R$ 1.6 trillion) worldwide. That money will be used on infrastructure, climate and digital projects to strengthen Europe’s supply chains, boost EU trade and help tackle climate change.

Last month, on a visit to Brasília, von der Leyen had already announced an investment of €2 billion euros (R$10.7 billion) in green hydrogen in Brazil.

“Latin America and the Caribbean can become an energy supplier. The wind sector is growing exponentially and the next step is to transform this into green hydrogen, which can be exported between continents and can be used in local industry, in sectors such as steel or in cars and trucks,” she said this Monday.

“Another example is critical raw materials. Unlike common foreign investors, we are not only interested in extracting these raw materials, but in building a partnership.”

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), in turn, responded that he will launch a new development plan for Brazil in the coming days. “This new, fairer and more solidary Brazil is being built.”

“We are going to resume paralyzed undertakings, accelerate others and create new projects. Railways, waterways, ports and airports. A broadband network throughout the country will be the basis of education. With the ongoing tax reform, we simplify and make the economy more efficient” , he stated.

“In previous mandates, we reduced deforestation by 80%. This time, we committed to ending it by 2030. And, in this first half, we reduced it by 34% compared to last year.”

Regarding energy, Lula said that “87% of our electricity comes from renewable sources, against the average of 27% in the world. And 50% of our energy is clean, against 15%”.

Earlier, the Brazilian had met behind closed doors for nearly half an hour with von der Leyen, before they met for nearly half an hour behind closed doors.

“The European Union will invest a lot in communities in Latin America and the Caribbean in order to reduce inequalities”, stated von der Leyen.

“We want to work hand in hand to face the challenges of the new times. Our ambition is to resolve any differences and reach mutually beneficial agreements”, said the president of the Commission.

Lula recalled that Brazil has neglected foreign trade and diplomacy in recent years. “And we are back to place Brazil at the center of discussions in the international community,” he said.

“We have a strong trend in renewable energy and you can be sure of one thing: the climate transition becomes our government’s priority,” he concluded.

Despite Mercosur being off the agenda for discussions, one of Lula’s missions at the summit is to extract a commitment from the Europeans to sign the final text of the agreement later this year.

On Friday (14th), Brazil shared with the other Mercosur countries a counter-proposal to a text that the EU sent in March. It is this new document that, if approved in the bloc, Lula intends to have the Europeans sign before 2024.

The Brazilian president has a series of meetings scheduled between today and tomorrow. On Wednesday, he will hold a press conference.