Skip to main content

Uruguay’s global ambitions for trade deals.

 

Uruguay flag

Presidential meetings of the South American Mercosur alliance were usually sedate affairs until Uruguay decided to «open up to the world» under its pro-business leader, Luis Lacalle Pou. Hard at work negotiating new deals outside the regional bloc since taking office in March 2020, Lacalle Pou’s ambitions are running up against the other Mercosur members, who are closing ranks on Uruguay as political alliances shift. Those tensions erupted at the summit in the Uruguayan capital Montevideo this month amid accusations of foul play and unsportsmanlike tactics on news that Uruguay had independently applied to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership days previously, a trade alliance including Australia and Japan. «Uruguay needs to choose if it is with Mercosur,» Argentina’s foreign minister, Santiago Cafiero, said at the summit, in which Uruguay transferred the Mercosur presidency to Argentina.

The three other Mercosur members have called for regional unity, threatening to penalise Uruguay with undisclosed measures if it continues to pursue deals alone. «There has not been, nor will there be, a single action by my country that can be interpreted as Uruguay promoting the end of Mercosur,» minister Francisco Bustillo told the summit. Last week, the Uruguay-China chamber of commerce reiterated its support for Montevideo to deepen trade ties between the two, saying that «advancing» the FTA with China was «central». Ignacio Bartesaghi, international relations professor at Uruguay’s Catholic University, said the government’s mistake had been to «take on too many deals at once», unnerving members at a time of political change in Brazil, which will affect the group’s dynamics.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Cloud Bookkeeping

H&M struggles with profitability.

  H&M blamed high clothes prices ,  its exit from Rus­sia and a cost-cut­ting pro­gramme for an unex­pec­tedly large col­lapse in its earn­ings as the world’s second-largest fash­ion retailer’s struggles with prof­it­ab­il­ity con­tinue .  Oper­at­ing profit plunged 87 per cent to SKr820mn in the fourth quarter to the end of Novem­ber from a year earlier .  Shares in H&M fell more than 4 per cent to SKr125 . 80 yes­ter­day ,  hav­ing lost nearly half of their value since their recent peak in April 2021 .  The Swedish retailer ,  which lags behind Indi­tex ,  the Span­ish owner of Zara ,  in sales and prof­it­ab­il­ity ,  launched a SKr2bn cost-cut­ting pro­gramme last year that included 1 , 500 job losses . H&M’s sales in the fourth quarter were up 10 per cent to SKr64 . 4bn but flat in local cur­rency terms .  It said sales from Decem­ber 1 to Janu­ary 25 had increased 5 per cent in local cur­ren­cies .  «Sales in ...
2 comments
Read more

Commercial properties continue to fall

  UK commercial property values and rents are projected to «tumble off a cliff edge» in the first quarter of 2023, as estate agents warn offices will fare worst as prices fall. A survey of more than 400 commercial agents forecast a 2.9 per cent decrease in prices per square foot across the industry in the first three months of the year, with offices falling 3.1 per cent. «Where we saw the market stop still, we will see the market finding its level, people working out where things are, where value is,» he said. Listed vehicles have already seen this valuation drop in their share prices, with real estates investment trusts such as Land Securities and British Land falling by a fifth or more this year. According to the RIB estate report, offices are expected to suffer the most significant sales price falls, with nearly a third of respondents expecting them to come down by more than 5 per cent. In addition, the survey projected a 1.3 per cent fall in rents per square foot over the perio...
Post a Comment
Read more

BoE is considering to increase deposit guarantee.

  According to anonymous sources, the Bank of England is considering reforming its deposit guarantee scheme. The move comes in response to concerns that the current system may not be sufficient to protect customers in case of a bank failure. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme guarantees deposits up to £85,000 per person per institution. However, some experts have raised concerns that this may not be enough to prevent a run on banks in a significant financial crisis. As a result, the Bank of England is reportedly considering several options for reforming the scheme, including increasing protection and introducing more stringent bank regulations. A final decision on any changes will be made later this year. One option the Bank of England considers is increasing the protection offered by the deposit guarantee scheme. This could involve raising the maximum amount guaranteed per person or extending coverage to more types of deposits. Another possibility is to introduce more stri...
Post a Comment
Read more