The third meeting of the UK-Brazil Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) will be taking place in São Paulo on Monday 1 September.

Established in 2006 following President Lula’s state visit to the UK, JETCO aims to increase the scope for business and trade between the two countries.

The São Paulo meeting will analyse the work carried out over last twelve months and also discuss new projects. It will be attended by the UK’s Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, John Hutton; Brazil’s Minister for Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Miguel Jorge; the British Ambassador to Brazil, Peter Collecott; and representatives from UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), Brazil’s export-promotion agency APEX, and the public and private sectors of both countries.

Brazil is the UK’s principal commercial partner in Latin America. Total bilateral trade in 2007 was US$5.3bn, an increase of more than 32% in comparison with 2005, and over the first seven months (Jan-July) of 2008 it reached US$3.44bn, suggesting that the upward trend is set to continue.

Source: APEX and Embassy of Brazil in London