Written answers

Thursday, 23 November 2006

Department of Foreign Affairs

Diplomatic Representation

5:00 pm

Photo of Joan BurtonJoan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 104: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has been in contact with the Government of the newly re-elected president of Brazil, His Excellency Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva; and if Ireland will deepen its relations with Brazil. [39524/06]

Photo of Dermot AhernDermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The Taoiseach recently sent a letter of congratulations to President Lula da Silva on the occasion of his re-election as President of the Federative Republic of Brazil. The Taoiseach wished President Lula well in his second term in office and expressed his wish to develop further the warm and close relations between Ireland and Brazil. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, Ireland and Brazil have enjoyed positive and deepening relations, with continuing efforts being made through the Embassy of Ireland in Brasilia to further strengthen bilateral ties. Over the last five years, a number of state, official and high-level visits have been made to Brazil, notably an official visit to Brazil by the Taoiseach in July 2001 and a state visit by President McAleese in March 2004. In the economic domain, an Enterprise Ireland delegation visited Brazil in February 2006. Enterprise Ireland has appointed a consultant in Sao Paolo to assist Irish companies interested in entering the Brazilian market, with a number of Irish businesses attending a Telecommunications Trade Fair in Florianópolis in October 2006. A visit to Ireland in March 2006 by the Chief Executive of the Brazilian Agency for Industrial Development, Mr. Alessandro Teixeira, was followed by a visit by the Brazilian Minister for Industry, Trade and Development, Mr. Luiz Fernando Furlan, in May 2006. Ireland also engages in dialogue with Brazil in the context of membership of the European Union. EU relations with Brazil are pursued through bilateral and multilateral fora, the former being based on the 1992 EC-Brazil Framework Cooperation Agreement and the latter being conducted through the mechanism of the 1995 EU-Mercosur Framework Cooperation Agreement. Ireland and Brazil co-operate on a range of multilateral issues at the UN, and in the framework of the Non-Proliferation Treaty as members of the New Agenda Coalition. Political consultations were held at senior official level in Dublin in April this year.

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