• By Richard Moreira
• MEANS THE NATION

As a result of the interest generated by one of the most stable economies in the region, a senior UK Government representative was in our country last week. Ambassador Jonathan Knott, His Excellency’s Commissioner for Trade for Latin America and the Caribbean, visited Nación Media, where he outlined the reasons for his visit to Paraguay, for the first time, and pointed out highlights for his government.

The goal, according to leading diplomats, is to expand the current commercial exchanges between the two countries (which amount to about 95 million dollars a year) by improving relations between British and Paraguayan companies, in areas such as the environment, agriculture or applied technology to medicine.

Next, an interview discussing bilateral issues, the UK’s current relationship with the region, the future FTA with Mercosur and of course the expectations generated by the assumption of the new tenant of the Palacio de López, which this year goes to Santiago Peña, a man of great experience in economic matters and whose vision of trade could mean a strong increase between the two countries.

-Firstly we already have an attractive exchange, which is about 77 million pounds (about Rp. 95 million). It’s not bad, but we want to improve. At the moment we are prioritizing a few sectors and we believe there we have the best opportunity to increase those levels for England and Paraguay. We want to focus on energy, especially green energy. We already have a UK company installed here, Atome, with experience in green energy, producing ammonia and hydrogen based energy, it’s very exciting and I think it’s going to be very important. We are also working with Agritec to see how to increase agricultural output here in Paraguay. Also in healthcare engineering, there are companies that use surgical robots to assist with the services they offer Paraguayans. So we have a pretty optimistic future. What we should see is an increase in exchange that we have.

-What we want to do is bring in UK companies with experience in wind energy, photovoltaic and especially future science focused companies. For this reason, hydrogen or ammonia is of particular interest, as they can offer energy but also act as fertilizers. There are a lot of efforts that we are doing now. For me it is an example of what we can do together. The key word is “green”, because this is the world’s energy future. We have a good company and a good level of experience in the UK, so we would like to introduce the company here to potential Paraguayan partners to co-create the future here. To realize the vision of Paraguay in the future which the Government wants to implement.

-We’re working on it and that’s why I’m here. Now we see with the ambassador in Asunción, Ramin Navai, what are the products and what sectors can we work in, always thinking that at the international level, successful companies partner with other companies. So what we can do is introduce an interesting British company to a Paraguayan company. We have a very open perspective, but it’s not the Government that has to say it, the perspective has to be companies, entrepreneurs do it, and say “here we can”. My responsibility is to help and support entrepreneurs in this moment and then see if we have any bottlenecks that we can help lower so they can set the opportunity up again.

-The word is not to recover, for me the UK must renew relations with other countries in other parts of the world besides Europe, especially in Latin America. The reason why I work is to really take advantage of all the opportunities that we haven’t realized until now. We have teams in 19 countries in the region, and in each of them we see how we can make that possibility possible. Now we are focusing on the whole world, not on Europe, to become a truly international country. That is also my challenge, fortunately last year the level of trade between the UK and Latin America grew by 30%. It also shows that we are on the right track, but we are not satisfied, we have to improve and improve. Even here and visit more often. Bring entrepreneurs to Paraguay, bring entrepreneurs there and see the possibilities there. If a company wants to grow and go global, for me the UK is the ideal place, because of the network we have all over the world. Those are my hopes and expectations.

-Very. I can’t say a year, but TLC is something we wanted to do. A little like I explained earlier. We want to first identify what areas are commercial and focus on those areas. Because then we can move forward as quickly as possible. I’ll repeat later, don’t know when, but in the future ideally there will also be an FTA with Mercosur. But right now we are focused on how we can help our businesses and entrepreneurs.

-The first thing we do is renew all the agreements we have as members of the European Union. Then little by little we saw where to start strengthening our bonds, from a British point of view, not as a European. It gives us a bit of flexibility, it gives us agility. I think by focusing on Latin America, I see all the possibilities that we have. For me, this part of the world is the most interesting part. Promising too. We have much to do if we work well and in a focused way. That’s why I visited the country and its authorities. I visited the MOPC and its plans for the future, we visited the MRE representative, Department of Finance, we really updated from a business point of view this link that can be commercially successful.

-First I must recognize and celebrate democracy in action. Later, because the new president is the Minister of Finance, I imagine he will have a rather sophisticated vision of the economy and of how trade can help not only in terms of money but also in terms of the development of the people and the country. Because by doing good business you can access urban development, and part of our job, my job, is to support that growth and improve people’s quality of life. It’s not just the money, it’s the quality of life, that should be the challenge, the goal.

“What we wanted to do was feature British companies with experience in wind energy, photovoltaic and especially companies focused on future science”

“First I must acknowledge and celebrate democracy in action. Later, because the new president is the Minister of Finance, I imagine he will have a rather sophisticated vision of the economy and how trade can help not only in terms of money but also in terms of the development of the people and the country. .