Bulgaria supports Brazil in its quest for reform in the UN granting the latter a permanent seat on the Security Council, Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim announced after meeting Bulgarian state leaders.

Amorim is in Sofia Wednesday on the first ever visit of a Brazilian Foreign Minister to Bulgaria; he is also the highest ranking Brazilian state official to ever visit Bulgaria.

Brazil’s Foreign Minister was received by the Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Parliament Chair Tsetska Tsacheva, and his Bulgarian counterpart Nikolay Mladenov.

After the meetings Amorim said Tsacheva had declared Bulgaria’s support for a permanent Brazilian seat on the UN Security Council. Foreign Minister Mladenov elaborated that Bulgaria supported in principal the reform of the UN, which would entail making Brazil a permanent Security Council member, but that the issue was still being discussed with the EU, and the final outcome of these talks would be crucial for the Bulgarian position on reforming the global organization.

Another major topic of Amorim’s talks was the Iranian nuclear program and the recently signed agreement among Brazil, Iran, and Turkey allowing Iran to continue its nuclear research ahead of the adoption of sanctions against Iran at the UN Security Council.

According to the Bulgarian Foreign Minister, much of his conversation with his Brazilian counterpart was focused on seeking specific ideas for business cooperation and exchange.

Mladenov believes that innovations, education, and energy projects harbor the greatest potential for Bulgarian-Brazilian cooperation.

“We are going to consider the opportunities for Bulgarian firms to bid in public procurement tenders in Brazil. Given that Brazil’s economy is growing at 7% per year, it would stupid on our part to disregard the opportunities this country presents not just for our producers and manufacturers but also for our engineers in fields such as railroad transportation,” the Bulgarian Foreign Minister said.

His Brazilian counterpart added tourism and sports to the sectors where mutually beneficial cooperation could be developed. Amorim stressed the fact that Brazil will host the FIFA World Cup in 2014, and the Summer Olympics in 2016.

“In volleyball our national teams are almost equal but in track and field and wrestling we’ve got a lot to learn so our connections with Bulgaria can help us win more medals,” Amorim stated.

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