BRASILIA: President Barack Obama arrived in Brazil Saturday for the start of a three-country, five-day tour of Latin America (Latam) to promote greater economic ties and improved regional security. Obama said the United States should treat South America's largest nation as an economic power similar to Asian giants China and India. “It's time for the United States to treat our engagement with Brazil on economic issues as seriously as we do with nations like China and India,” Obama said. Obama, on his first trip to Brazil as president, earlier hailed the country's “extraordinary rise” of recent years, saying the two nations laid foundations for greater cooperation and that the United States wanted to help Brazil develop its huge offshore oil reserves. In his Saturday radio and Internet address, Obama singled out the economic benefits of the trip, noting the rapid growth of Brazil and Chile, the second country on his itinerary. Obama said that the United States exports more than three times as much to Latin America than to China. “What is clear is that in an increasingly global economy, our partnership with these nations is only going to become more vital,” the president said. Brazil stands out for its strategic and economic importance to the United States. As the world's seventh-largest economy, it is a member of an exclusive club of influential developing nations along with Russia, India and China, collectively known in economic circles as the BRIC nations. Obama is looking to reset the US relationship with Brazil, an emerging economic power that even without being hostile has annoyed Washington with its independent ways. After Brazil, Obama travels to Chile, which has established itself as one of the wealthier nations in South America. His third and final stop is in El Salvador. The trip comes as China has surpassed the United States as Brazil's top trading partner and in the wake of recent discoveries of vast oil reserves off the Brazilian coast. The reserves - estimated at from 30 billion to 80 billion barrels - place Brazil in the top 10 countries in the world in reserves. Since Brazil is energy self-sufficient, that oil would all be available for export. Brazil is also a giant agricultural exporter, competing head-to-head with the United States. Obama arrives bearing no major policy gifts. And he's not likely to deliver on two of Brazil's top wishes: an endorsement for Brazil to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council and a relaxation of tariffs on Brazilian ethanol. The United States and Brazil are the world's largest ethanol producers. Obama's Saturday stay in the Brazilian capital, a city merely 50 years old, is all business. He will meet with Rousseff and deliver an address to a meeting of executives from Brazil and the US. The chief executive session is designed to illustrate the commercial opportunities for the United States in Brazil. US officials and business leaders point to the opportunities presented by the infrastructure challenges Brazil faces in its role as host of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games. Business leaders and trade experts said Obama and Rousseff could make strides toward a trade and economic cooperation agreement, typically a first step toward forging a free trade agreement.
