As two of the world’s largest economies and democracies, the United States and Brazil today are expanding economic, energy and education cooperation.
On the eve of President Dilma Rousseff’s first visit to DC, Acting Assistant Secretary Roberta S. Jacobson for Bureau of Western Hemisphere said Brazil and the United States are natural partners.
“Even that simple sentence: that we are natural partners, would not have been obvious just 5 years ago. Building a deeper and more comprehensive partnership with Brazil is a high priority for the United States.” -Ms. Jacobson
US engagement with Brazil centers on how two countries can work together to achieve prosperity throughout the Western Hemisphere and around the world.
In DC, Ms. Jacobson discussed about economic, energy, and education cooperation which are just some of the areas in which both countries want to increase investment, not only financial investment, but investment in people, through support for innovation that will bring the next generation of technological advances.
US has made dozens of dialogues with Brazil to advance US mutual interests especially on economic and financial issues, on energy, on non-proliferation, on science and technology, on racial discrimination, and on global affairs.
A prime area of engagement between the two countries and one that has room for even greater expansion is economic cooperation, Ms. Jacobson noted.
Both countries have expert exchanges on clean and conventional energies, including biofuels, in the context of their Strategic Energy Dialogue.
Both countries also collaborate on sustainable urban development and planning as part of the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas.
Both countries recently launched a Joint Initiative on Urban Sustainability that will leverage investments in sustainable infrastructure, green building, intelligent transportation, and clean energy projects.
The two natiosn have also increased their trilateral collaboration on issues as diverse as food security and agricultural biotechnology in Africa and counternarcotics cooperation with Bolivia.
“We collaborate on women’s issues, specifically promoting economic empowerment, addressing gender-based violence, improving women’s health, and increasing their participation in science and technology.” -Ms. Jacobson
Both countries have also taken a serious look at education and how both countries are building the work force they need for the 21st century.
This reality places educational cooperation high on the list of our bilateral priorities with Brazil, Ms. Jacobson said.
The 100,000 Strong for the Americas for one has a goal to increase the number of Latin American and Caribbean students in the United States, and students from the United States studying in the region, to 100,000 each year in each direction.
The United States also welcomed President Rousseff’s Science without Borders Initiative, a perfect complement to 100,000 Strong in the Americas.
Both countries are working diligently with Brazilian partners to expand opportunities for Brazilian students and welcome them to US campuses.
“Brazil is a society that has not just embraced democracy, but draws on and celebrates its diversity as a source of strength, a tool for overcoming inequality and expanding opportunity.” -Ms. Jacobson
Brazil is an economy that has brought millions out of poverty and into the middle class while creating world-class innovators and companies. It is a success story and an example that can inspire solutions elsewhere, Ms. Jacobson noted
Ms. Jacobson stresses that in the year since President Obama’s visit to Brazil, it has partnered with Brazil to deepen its relationship and make good on the commitments made by our two Presidents.
In a time of shrinking budgets, both are looking at opening new consulates in Brazil to keep up with exponential growth in visa demand and engage more throughout Brazil, according to Ms. Jacobson.
The United States and Brazil have a long and productive relationship, built on almost two centuries of partnership and trust.
Both countries are taking that partnership to a new level, one that brings concrete benefits to the citizens and to the world.
The United States recognizes Brazil not just a rising power, but a diverse, vibrant, and democratic rising power. Brazil is an essential player in a world in which shared global challenges are met with more resilient twenty-first century partnerships.
