Participation of President Dilma Rousseff in the Third Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) – San Jose, Costa Rica, January 28-29, 2015

President Dilma Rousseff will attend, on January 28 and 29, the Third Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), in San Jose, Costa Rica. The summit will be an opportunity for Heads of State and Government of the region to establish new guidelines for policy coordination and cooperation developed in the context of CELAC.

During the Pro Tempore Presidency of Costa Rica, Brazil held two CELAC meetings, the first on family farming and the second on the promotion of racial equality, fundamental issues for the regional efforts of reducing poverty and social inequality.

Earlier this month, the new cooperation platform between Latin American and Caribbean countries and China was initiated, with the First CELAC-China Forum meeting in Beijing. The Forum was launched at a meeting hosted by Brazil, last July.

At the end of the Summit, Costa Rica will transfer the Pro Tempore Presidency of CELAC to Ecuador.

Trade flow between Brazil and the Latin American and Caribbean countries has more than quadrupled in the period 2002-2014, from approximately $ 20 billion in 2002 to $ 83.7 billion in 2014. Brazil's trade with the countries of CELAC corresponds to 18.5% of the country's trade with the world.