Turkey - Brazil Strategic Dialogue
“Thinking Diplomacy: New World New Horizons“When we look at the main trends in the world, global competition in the age of new economy based on "information and knowledge-based products" following "soil and machinery" is developing through "micro-nationalism", "integration" and "unpredictability’’. Challenges that determine the new nature of life and state; such as " crisis in resource and sharing ", unsustainability of production-consumption-growth formula, purge of the middle class with Chinese leverage, energy, water, and food insecurity, transition to the 4th dimension, liquidation of human resources in the workforce, transition from hard power to soft and smart power on the basis of the very changing state nature and anticipation management, can be formed as the basic references.
Within all these fundamental parameters, the transformations in technology are prone to change the whole human life and nature by developing with artificial intelligence, virtual/enhanced reality and mobility centered. It is obvious that the concepts of "Industry 4.0" and "Society 5.0" are important topics for managing the transformation of the world within the dimensions of industry and society. Another contributive factor is the turbulence that China creates as it begins to become intensively dominant on the world stage day to day. The New Silk Road project, "One Belt and One Road Initiative"; is shaped as a global integration project involving more than hundred countries, both on land and at sea, permanently changing the distribution of economic shares. In countries with no middle class, authoritarian regimes or chaos stands as two options in the fore-seeable future. How to make the division of labor in terms of regional and global security and how to share the costs is also a point of discussion in the coming period.
The development of new alliances on security can be read from the risks and the initiatives undertaken by dominant countries. The quality of the concepts of property and power, and the business model change historically. The future of the EU with the "Failure in Success" syndrome will be determined by the results of the polarization which revived in the West after the Brexit. Along with all these developments, "Ecosystem of safety" changes with the law. The "Security - Democracy" dilemma will be experienced much more after that. Because, for the democracy, it is difficult to survive in countries where the middle class is melting and security leans to a sophisticated ground. The question "Will security bring us authoritarian regimes" needs to be discussed further.
Turkey distinguishes itself with an 84-million inhabitants, growing economy and geo-strategic status in the center of Afro-Eurasia. Turkey's historical, political and cultural ties between Europe, Black Sea, Caucasus, Asia, Middle East and African countries, rising activity in the international arena, especially in the United Nations, being an important member of organizations such as NATO, OSCE and CICA and with active foreign policy, it has become an increasingly important actor on the global platform.
On the other hand, Brazil, which is the sixth country with its population of over 213 million and the fifth largest country with its surface area of over 8.5 million km², is an important political and economic power in Latin America and is one of the major players at the global level. Brazil, which is the largest economy of Latin America and the ninth in the world with approximately 2 trillion dollars in GDP, is one of the countries of the world's highest FDI and continues to be the leading edge of developing countries. Brazil is a member of many international organizations such as the United Nations (UN), World Trade Organization (WTO), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, and the G-20 which Turkey is a member of.
Turkey’s diplomatic relations with Brazil have started with the "Treaty of Friendship, Residentials, Commerce and Navigation" signed in London in 1858. In the last period of the Ottoman Empire, over one hundred thousand Ottoman citizens emigrated to Brazil, the majority of which was from Lebanon and Syria. A Friendship Agreement was signed in Rome in 1927 between the Republic of Turkey and Brazil. Turkey has opened a representative office in Rio de Janeiro, the capital of the time, in 1929. Especially in last two decades, bilateral high-level visits have showed a marked increase. High Level Cooperation Commission have been created to serve as a mechanism that is in charge of developing policies and strategies between the two countries to enhance further bilateral relations in areas of common interests like political dialogue, trade and commerce, science, technology, defense, finance, investments, tourism, culture, diplomacy and academia. Friendship groups in the parliaments of the two countries are mutually available. In 2010, the "Strategic Partnership Action Plan" was signed between the two countries. In this context, Brazil has become Turkey's first strategic partner in the region.
Military relations between Turkey and in Brazil have gained momentum in recent years. Within the framework of the existing plan of cooperation and mutual visits between Turkey and Brazil, regular visits of military delegations of the two countries are continuing. In the context of the will to start new term in the economic and political spheres, it is expected to increase cooperation in the field of defense industry and a Military Attaché was opened in August within the Embassy of Brazil in 2010. Again, the First Military Dialogue Meeting which was held in Brasilia in 2011 allowed identifying the possibilities of cooperation between the two countries in the field of defense industry. Studies about the creation of a “Joint Defense Group“ between the two countries are currently underway.
The bilateral trade volume between Turkey and Brazil stood at 3.1 billion dollars in 2019 and trade gap weigh against Turkey was 2.12 billion dollars. The main products exported by Turkey to Brazil are road vehicle parts, baking soda, nuts, vegetables, cement, yarn, glassware and refrigerators. The main products exported by Brazil to Turkey are iron, wood pulp, cotton, live cattle, coffee, soybeans, tobacco, gold and aircraft.
However, economic-commercial relations between Turkey and Brazil are far from reflecting the existing potential despite the recent acceleration. Regarding economic sizes of the two countries, need to increase their trade is a necessity rather than an option. In the Turkey’s Country policy for Brazil, increasing trade volume, establishing a balanced relationship of mutual trade and encouraging our businessmen to export is a priority.
Brazil is a country that Turkey has the largest trading volume in the Latin America and Caribbean Region. Brazil, which has close commercial and political ties with Latin American countries, conducts Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations through the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), of which it is a founding member. By the way, the "FTA Framework Agreement" signed in 2008 to determine the framework of FTA negotiations between Turkey and MERCOSUR entered into force in 2019.
With the end of the Cold War; main trend in international politics which has gained a momentum with globalization is that the countries cannot develop alone by themselves but through regional and global cooperation. Nowadays; countries have transformed themselves into entities that are open to economical, political and cultural cooperation and those countries which cannot adapt themselves to this process have become unstable. Both of the countries are rising regional economical and political powers and their cooperation will create regional, national and global plus values. In order to improve mutual relations in the fields of political dialogue, economy, trade, science, technology, defense industry, investment, tourism, culture and diplomacy; various policies and strategies should be created. Within this framework; it is necessary to develop long term “strategic cooperation“ between Turkey and Brazil.
Now it is required that the two countries head towards a future structure, in order to uplift the Turkey - Brazil relations an ideal point within a world power schema which takes its form in a multi-dimensional way, by creating a mutual deepening not only in political and strategic basis but also in its each parameter. History offers opportunities for deepening their interdependency. In this regard, the Turkey - Brazil Strategic Dialogue, which will bring together the representatives of sectors in a comprehensive way that includes the strategic dimension of the relations, will play a significant role.
Main Theme
Thinking Diplomacy: New World New Horizons
Sub Themes
New Balances New Economy
Turkey - Brazil Economic Relations: Opportunities and Obstacles
Geopolitical and Security Cooperation
Technological, Academic and Cultural Cooperation
Social, Economic and Political Developments
Relations with the US, China and New Partners
Adaptation to the Global Management Structures
Opportunities of Improvement of Relations in Multi-Dimensional Global Arena
Priority Sectors
Public Diplomacy, Education and Language
Culture and Tourism
Construction, Contracting and Infrastructure
Health and Health Tourism
Energy, Petrochemicals and Investments
Logistics, Transportation and Telecommunication
Banking and Finance (Strategic Investment Fund)
Economy and Trade
Media and Communication
Science and Technology
Brand Cities and Environment
Defence and Space Industry
STUDIES AND ACTIVITIES (DRAFT)
Method
Inductive Reasoning, Participation and Economic Deepening
Turkey - Brazil Committee of Wise Persons Meetings Workshop
Building Capacity and Ecosystem Inventory
Preparation of Research Projects and their Reports
Development of Pro-active Policy Recommendations
Round-Table Meetings/Workshops
Multilateral Workshops/Studies
Sector Workshops/Activities
Applied Interactive Modelings
Strategic Reports
Publication of sector studies as strategic reports for decision makers, private sector, media and public opinion of the two countries. Providing literature and memory support.
Media Conferences
Other Academic Studies
Strategic Reports, Books, Articles, Thesis and so on Academic Studies
Event Page
https://tasam.org/en/Etkinlik/18310/turkey_-_brazil_strategic_dialogue
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