Trip by President of the Government to Federative Republic of Brazil and Oriental Republic of Uruguay

Bilateral relations between Spain and Brazil are of a strategic nature and are governed by the 2003 Strategic Partnership Plan, which was updated in 2012. The two countries belong to the Ibero-American family of nations and share values and a long common history. More than 130,000 Spaniards live in Brazil.

The trip by the President of the Government has three strands: political, economic and in relation to the respective civil societies. In Brasilia, the President of the Government will hold a working meeting with President Temer and will have the opportunity to meet up with other senior Brazilian officials. Within the framework of this meeting, at which the two leaders will review bilateral relations and the regional agenda, they are due to sign various cooperation agreements between the two countries. The visit by the President of the Government will also have a European dimension, since it will enable Spain to continue its strong drive towards concluding a trade agreement between the EU and MERCOSUR, negotiations on which were resumed last year.

Subsequently, the President of the Government will travel to São Paulo, the economic driver of Brazil, where he will close the 1st Spain-Brazil Forum, an initiative designed to draw the civil societies of the two countries closer together and enhance mutual knowledge between the two peoples. The President of the Government will also have the opportunity to meet up in São Paulo with representatives of the sizable Spanish colony in Brazil.

The trip by the President of the Government also has a marked economic content. In São Paulo, the President of the Government will inaugurate a Spain-Brazil Business Meeting, organised by ICEX España, Exportación e Inversiones [Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade], the Spanish Confederation of Business Organisations (Spanish acronym: CEOE) and the Chamber of Commerce of Spain, in collaboration with the Brazilian Agency for the Promotion of Exports and Investments. The main aim of this meeting is to foster collaboration and investments between Spanish and Brazilian companies. In addition to more consolidated companies, the Business Meeting will particularly focus on Spanish SMEs, which are very active in Brazil.

Economic relations between the two countries are going through a buoyant period, with a noteworthy presence of Spanish companies in the country. Bilateral trade is intense, amounting in 2016 to 5.21 billion euros. Brazil is Spain's second largest customer in Latin America, with exports in excess of 2.2 billion euros in 2016. During the same year, imports exceeded 2.9 billion euros.

From an investment perspective, Brazil is the third-ranked destination in terms of Spanish investment in the world (behind only the United States and the United Kingdom). In terms of real investments, Spanish is the second largest foreign investor. Particularly noteworthy is the participation of Spanish companies in the financial sector, telecommunications, transport, construction and engineering, energy and defence.

Uruguay

On 25 and 26 April, the President of the Government will make a working visit to Uruguay. This is the first bilateral visit by a President of the Government of Spain to Uruguay since the visit made by President of the Government Aznar in 1998.

Bilateral relations between Spain and Uruguay are characterised by their convergence on political, economic and social issues. The trip by the President of the Government to Uruguay will include a working meeting with President Tabaré Vázquez, at which they will tackle bilateral relations, relations between the EU and MERCOSUR, as well as the regional Ibero-American agenda. The presence of the President of the Government in Uruguay will also enable Spain's role as one of the main drivers behind the EU-MERCOSUR Partnership Agreement to be asserted, an agreement currently being negotiated.

The trip by the President of the Government has a marked economic content. Within the framework of the meeting with President Vázquez, economic relations will be addressed between the two countries. President of the Government Rajoy will close a business meeting organised by the ICEX in Montevideo, within the framework of which he will have the chance to see firsthand the opportunities and challenges facing Spanish companies operating in Uruguay, many of which are SMEs.

Economic relations between the two countries are enjoying a buoyant period. Bilateral trade amounted to 410 million euros in 2016, with Spain exporting goods and services for the sum of 318 million euros to Uruguay, while importing 92 million euros.

The visit by the President of the Government to Uruguay will allow him to make contact with the very large Spanish colony in the country. With almost 70,000 Spanish residents, this is the densest Spanish colony in terms of its weighting vis-à-vis the population of the host country in the world. On the occasion of this visit, he is scheduled to attend an event with representatives of this group at the residence of the Spanish Ambassador in Montevideo.