Brazil to help Bangladesh join BRICS

Visiting Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira yesterday said his country would consider Bangladesh's keen interest to become a BRICS member "very strongly and positively".

"Bangladesh is the country very close to watch, we shared principles, shared positions ... we will consider it [inclusion in BRICS] from our side, very strongly and positively," said Vieira, reports BSS.

He was speaking at a joint media briefing after a meeting with his Bangladesh counterpart Hasan Mahmud at state guesthouse Jamuna.

Foreign Minister Hasan expressed Bangladesh's interest in joining BRICS during the meeting.

Last year, Bangladesh showed interest in joining the BRICS alliance, comprised of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The alliance was founded to establish economic and political equilibrium among powerful global nations.

At yesterday's meeting, Bangladesh and Brazil also agreed to work together for the promotion of bilateral and regional trades and investments.

Hasan and Vieira, who arrived yesterday morning on a two-day visit, agreed that a preferential trade agreement (PTA) between Bangladesh and South American Trade Bloc MERCOSUR would enhance business opportunities.

MERCOSUR is an economic and political bloc comprised of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Bolivia.

During the meeting, the two ministers welcomed the signing of the basic agreement on Technical Cooperation and an MoU between Bangladesh and Brazil, according to a joint statement.

State Minster for Commerce Ahsanul Islam Titu also met Vieira.

At the meeting, the two foreign ministers expressed their resolve to work to commence of the process for negotiating a MERCOSUR-Bangladesh PTA at the earliest opportunity.

They concluded negotiations for an MoU on sports cooperation to be signed at an appropriate time.

Brazil expressed that it wants to support Bangladesh regarding the tax waiver in exporting RMG, jute, leather, and pharmaceutical products.

"Bangladesh buys cotton from Brazil. We proposed that Brazil provide tax waiver to our RMG products that are made of Brazilian cotton," a commerce ministry official told The Daily Star.

Brazil has offered to export beef to Bangladesh at a competitive price, but the Bangladesh side said there is already good entrepreneurs in Bangladesh in this sector, he said.

At a post-meeting briefing, Hasan said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is likely to visit Brazil in July at the invitation of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Details of the cooperation will be discussed.

This is the first visit of the Brazilian foreign minister when the trade between the two countries has increased to $2.72 billion last year from only $1.52 billion in 2021 -- in the wake of Russia-Ukraine war.

Bangladesh's major imports from Brazil include soybean oil, soybean, cotton, and sugar, while Bangladesh's exports to Brazil are mainly readymade garments worth only around $200 million.

Vieira's visit comes following a meeting between Hasina and Lula da Silva in August last year in Johannesburg on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit.

During yesterday's meeting, the two ministers agreed on the importance of increasing cooperation and exchanges in the fields of agriculture, livestock, science, technology and innovation, education, climate change and energy transition, and technical cooperation, among others.

"We have identical positions on Gaza and many other global issues. We discussed the Rohingya crisis and sought Brazil's support for solving it," Hasan Mahmud told the briefing.

Vieira said the two countries will work on bilateral, regional as well as global levels for governance, trade promotion, climate change, green energy, and reducing hunger.

After the meeting with the Brazilian minister, State Minister for Commerce Ahsanul told reporters that he requested Brazil to supply sacrificial animals to Bangladesh before Eid-ul-Azha.

Brazil is an exporter of meat at very low prices.

"We requested them in this regard. If it is cheaper, we will look at the possibilities to import cattle or meat."