Mali, Brazil committed to bolster cooperation in security, agriculture, livestock breeding

Mali and Brazil are committed to deepen their bilateral cooperation in the fields of security, agriculture and livestock breeding as Bamako is concerned with security of all Malians and food security.

The announcement was made by Malian PM Lieutenant Colonel Abdoulaye Maïga upon return from the South American country where he attended the inauguration of President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva.

He held talks with the new Brazilian leader who returned to power after a spell in prison.

“Brazil has two particularities for us which make our country take a singular interest in it. The major concerns of the Head of State and the Transitional Government today are the definitive return of security for Malians and their property,” he told media.

“The second major concern is how to feed our population so that we are no longer dependent on imports, which are massive and weigh heavily on the State’s tax revenues. It so happens that in the specific fields of agriculture and livestock we have a long-standing cooperation, multiform supports that are to be renewed and deepened,” he added.

“We have Brazilian aircraft in our military air fleet. So, for us, cooperation and especially the densification and diversification in the areas of security in our country and in its food self-sufficiency are key elements of our policy. With Brazil, we are working on this project.”

During his trip to Brazil, the Malian Premier was accompanied by the Minister of Rural Development, and officials from the military and home security.

According to data gathered by the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), the world’s leading data visualization tool for international trade data, Mali’s export to Brazil stood at $349,000 dominated by Electrical Capacitors while Brazil’s export were valued at $3.6 million and mostly made of rice and firearms.

Brazil is member of the BRICS composed of Russia, India, China and South Africa. Russia is currently Mali’s top security partner.