Both former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, now the president of BRICS’ New Development Bank, and current Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, delivered pointed, strategic advice to their fellow Ibero-American and Caribbean officials when they addressed the Fourth Ministerial China-CELAC Forum in Beijing May 13.
Rousseff, who has studied China’s development closely and first-hand since she assumed the presidency of the NDB two years ago, stressed the strategic importance of CELAC’s relationship with China, but not only because “China cooperates and respects, it doesn’t threaten or blackmail,” as other powers have done, weaponizing tariffs, sanctions and the dollar against nations. The Ibero-American and Caribbean nations need to develop their own development paths by “re-industrializing,” with a focus on generating jobs, income and innovation, Brasil247 reported. “Countries that industrialized successfully relied on state support, partnership with the private sector and a focus on people’s development,” she explained. Ibero-American development should be anchored in scientific knowledge applied to production. “Research must be converted into practical solutions with added value, generating jobs and greater income.”
In his address, President Lula identified various ways in which CELAC’s partnership with China provides a “dynamic element” to the economy of the region, as is “particularly evident in the area of infrastructure"; Chinese support has been “decisive in getting roads, railways, ports and transmission lines off the ground.”
He also used his speech to warn—his word—his fellow Ibero-American officials present, that whether the infrastructure projects which China is willing to help the region build will become economically viable, “depends on our countries’ ability to coordinate in order to give these initiatives a regional scale.” The breakup of the Union of South American States (UNASUR) left “an enormous hole” in our joint planning, and should be reversed, he urged.
