Brazilian President: Relations With Russia Are Developing As Never Before

In an exclusive interview with RIA Novosti, President of Brazil Fernando Henrique Cardoso said that he favoured a shift in relations with Russia towards more science-intensive and technological production. He was speaking on the eve of his official visit to Russia that will begin on January 13th. "Russia has traditionally been a highly valuable market for Brazilian supplies of coffee and meat, in the first place, pork and poultry," said Fernando Henrique Cardoso. "We are interested in Russia's experience in the oil extraction sphere, energy and machine-building. We would be interested in increasing Russian investment in our economy. Of particular interest to us is Russia's traditionally strong military-industrial complex." The president is convinced that Russo-Brazilian relations are developing as never before. According to the Brazilian leader, this concerns cooperation in the economic sphere, cultural exchanges interaction on the political level and in the international arena. The Brazilian president also said that his country was interested in Russia's opinion on the integration of two structures, namely the Latin American MERCOSUR general market and the European Union.