PRESIDENT David Granger is scheduled to make a state visit to Brazil following the MERCOSUR (Southern Common Market) Summit next month, the Ministry of the Presidency said Monday evening.

In this regard, the Head of State met with Brazil’s Ambassador to Guyana, Mr. Lineu Pupo de Paula at State House on Monday to discuss issues pertaining to the agenda for the two-day visit, which is slated for December 21-22, 2017.

According to the ministry the visit was discussed and agreed to by Presidents Granger and Mr. Michel Temer of Brazil when they met on the margins of the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September. President Granger said he intends to have discussions on a number of matters including deeper cooperation between the Guyana Defence Force and the Brazilian Military in terms of capacity-building and expertise transfer and follow-up dialogue on the work of the Guyana-Brazil Joint Technical Working Group, which was established to identify and implement key developmental projects.

Back in June this year Guyana and Brazil held discussions in Brasilia on a range of issues on their bilateral agenda, including the development of infrastructure linking the two states, the promotion of trade and investment, and technical cooperation in agriculture, water resources management and other areas, as well as collaboration on issues of interest to the communities in the region of their common border.

They also agreed to pursue cooperation in the oil and gas sector as well as to work towards an agreement on cooperation and facilitation of investment. Also at that meeting an updated Air Services Agreement was signed between the two countries to further enhance air connectivity and the operation of air services between the two countries. A complementary technical cooperation agreement was also inked to provide support for seed certification, pest risk analysis and modernisation of plant health services in Guyana.

The agreements were signed during an official visit to Brasilia in June by Vice-President and Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Honourable Carl Greenidge and Minister of Public Infrastructure, the Honourable David Patterson following an invitation from the Foreign Minister of Brazil, Mr. Aloysio Nunes.

During deliberations with Minister Nunes talks centered on the development of infrastructure linking Guyana and Brazil, the promotion of trade and investment and technical cooperation in agriculture, water resources management and other areas, as well as collaboration on issues of interest to the communities in the Region of the Guyana-Brazil border.

Moreover, in the area of infrastructure, the focus was placed on steps to be taken jointly to advance the paving of the Linden to Lethem road as a complement to work already initiated covering the Linden to Mabura Hill segment and the bridging of the Essequibo River at Kurupukari. Additional discussions led by Minister Patterson with representatives of the Brazilian Ministries of Energy and Mines, Transport, Ports and Civil Aviation, and Planning identified even further cooperation possibilities in support of infrastructure development, including capacity-building, and the opening up of opportunities to companies from that State to bid for contracts in the sector. Next year will mark 50 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two South American neighbours.