IICA and Ministry of Agriculture launch Virtual Forum to disseminate the international strategy for Brazilian Agriculture

The Virtual Agribusiness Forum platform (http://forumagronegocio.iica.int) is the newest tool created jointly by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA), with the aim of consolidating various existing perceptions about the international agribusiness market and pointing out directions for the future. The initiative is part of the project 'Strategy for Opening, Expanding, Promoting and Maintaining Agribusiness in the International Market'.

The Strategy was prepared by MAPA, in partnership and with guidance from various public actors and civil society and represents the most relevant themes, with a medium and long-term vision of the future, its strategic axes, guidelines and actions, which guide government action in the international agribusiness trade.

Christian Fischer, who is the Project Focal Point for IICA's Southern Regional, explains that, within the Institute's Medium Term Plan (PMP 2018-2022), there is a program entitled International Trade and Regional Integration. According to him, this program “has a priority focus on supporting member countries to improve their participation in international markets for agro-industrial products and to deepen regional integration as a means to increase economic development and rural well-being”. Fischer also points out that, despite this being a national forum, it encourages participants to take a look at international trade, “promoting the exchange of knowledge, the identification of best practices and the debate on the mobilization of relevant resources for agriculture and regional integration”.

“We are convinced that Brazil has the capacity and determination to grow even further in its external operations. In this sense, we aim to achieve a market share of 10% of global agricultural trade. We know that, to achieve a challenge of this magnitude, we need to work in partnership with public and private actors, building solutions”, highlighted Minister Blairo Maggi.

For MAPA's Secretary of International Agribusiness Relations, Odilson Ribeiro, the Forum offers an opportunity to "contribute to the political articulation of strategies, which aim to increase commercial exchanges in agribusiness, and intensify the relationship with entities representing the export sector”.

The virtual forum, which offers free access and runs until November 26th, opens with a video by Minister Blairo Maggi and a presentation by MAPA's Secretary of International Agribusiness Relations with the theme "Constructing the Strategy".

The first speaker at the Forum will be the managing partner of the company Agroicone, Rodrigo Lima, on "The vision of the future of global agribusiness". The Secretary of Strategic Planning of the Presidency of the Republic, Carlos Pio, also participates in the Forum, with the lecture "Commercial policy, opening strategies and their determinants".

Other lectures, such as the "Evolution of Brazilian exports" by MAPA director Gustavo Cupertino; "Itamaraty and Ministry of Agriculture Cooperation for international trade", by ambassador Ronaldo Costa Filho, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and "Camex and Agro", by Marcela Santos, advisor to the Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services, will also be available over the next few days.

For other information about Brazil's operations in the foreign market, there are more videos published on the website. The lectures are available in Portuguese.

To participate in the Forum by asking questions, you must register, free of charge, on the platform: http://forum.forumagronegocio.iica.int/entry/register