MSG061G/01E MERCOSUR: Argentine Minister Calls For Results Within Six Months
BUENOS AIRES, Dic 15 (IPS) - "Transforming the agreements into reality" in the next six months is the challenge facing the four Southern Cone Common Market (Mercosur) members, according to Argentine Economic Minister Domingo Cavallo.
"In six months we must have working customs houses with staff fully aware of the new system, and with a strong integrationist spirit," he said Thursday shortly before leaving for a Mercosur summit in Ouro Preto, Brazil.
Cavallo said few issues remained to be addressed in Ouro Preto, adding that "there will be no surprises (as) everything is almost settled" for the Jan. 1 inauguration of a free trade zone between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
He acknowledged that the lack of infrastructure investment in Mercosur had yet to be discussed, but said he was optimistic for the future.
The Argentine minister met last week with Brazilian Finance Minister Ciro Gomes to address remaining conflicts in bilateral trade between the two nations. The automobile sector, wheat, textiles and sugar had been the leading sources of conflict.
Cavallo said he was confident that the various integration efforts in the hemisphere would eventually converge into an open, multilateral system. "Argentina is interested in free trade in the hemisphere, and in its relations with the European Union and South-East Asia," he said.
According to Cavallo, Mercosur members would be favoured by a multilateral free trade system such as the one to come out of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
He described Chile as a possible "bridge between Mercosur and the rest of the world."
The South American nation was recently invited to join the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Canada, Mexico and the United States, and is the newest member of the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation agreement.
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