MOSCOW, October 29 (RIA Novosti) — Brazil wants to diversify its trading beyond traditional partners in Latin America, and to further cooperate with its partners from BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) countries and Europe, Marden Barboza, Deputy Secretary of International Issues at Brazil's Finance Ministry said Wednesday.
"Brazilian government feels that it needs to start developing other directions, including economic and trade spheres," Barboza said during the video conference Moscow-Brasilia held at the Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency.
"We are currently in talks with the European Union with regards to signing free trade agreement," Barboza said.
"Our government is also looking for new trading spaces. And Russia is a country with a very important potential," he said.
He noted however that the current volumes of trade between Russia and Brazil are limited and stand at about 1-1.5 percent of Brazil's foreign trade.
"Trade with Russia is very important and I see a lot of potential here," Barboza pointed out, adding that the dialogue between Moscow and Brazil has already started and now needs to deepen.
"We see the tendency of succession — in the sphere of international relations, economy. And this succession will move toward rapprochement with Latin America, Africa — we can see it now and it will deepen in the future," Barboza said speaking about Dilma Rousseff's reelection as Brazilian president.
Brazil is one of the largest economies in Latin America, its GDP for 2013 was estimated at $2.245 trillion, which made it 7th country in the world by GDP. The country has hundreds of trading partners across the world, with 60 percent of its exports made up of manufactured and semi-manufactured goods. The total trade volume between Russia and Brazil in 2013 was estimated at $5.7 billion, however the two countries aim to increase the volumes for up to $10 billion in the upcoming years.
