Inauguration of South American integration routes to begin in 2025

Brazil’s Minister of Planning and Budget Simone Tebet said the first of the five integration routes between Brazil and neighboring countries should be operational by 2025, and that two others will be completed by 2026. Route 2, the first to be unveiled, will connect the entire Brazilian North and sections of the Northeast to the triple border with Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador.

“This should connect [these countries] to China’s largest investment in South America, namely one of the largest ports in South America, currently under construction in Peru,” the minister said Thursday (Jul. 18) on EBC’s Bom Dia, Ministra.

Integration with this port, the minister noted, should make it easier to transport Brazilian products to the Asian market, especially to China. “There’s very little left to be done. Just the dredging of the river. The service order has been given. Next, we’re putting a customs office on the triple border,” she said, adding that “this should be the most ecological route, as it is a waterway throughout. It will promote development without bringing pollution or cutting down trees.”

The minister noted that, in the South American market alone, Brazilian products are likely going to reach 200 million people. “That’s the same number of people living in Brazil, so we should be able to sell Brazilian products to a virtually new Brazil, besides reaching China and the Asian market more quickly,” she said.

According to the government, the five routes will have the double role of encouraging and strengthening Brazil’s trade with South American countries and reducing the time and cost of transporting goods between Brazil and its neighbors and Asia.

The integration routes

1. The Ilha das Guianas Route, covering the entire Brazilian states of Amapá and Roraima, as well as parts of Amazonas and Pará, linked to Guyana, French Guiana, Suriname, and Venezuela.

2. The Manta–Manaus Multimodal Route, covering the whole of the state of Amazonas and parts of the territories of Roraima, Pará, and Amapá, linked by river to Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador.

3. The Quadrante Rondon Route, formed by the states of Acre and Rondônia and the entire western portion of Mato Grosso state, connected to Bolivia and Peru.

4. The Capricórnio Route, starting in the states of Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraná, and Santa Catarina, connected by multiple routes to Paraguay, Argentina, and Chile.

5. The Porto Alegre–Coquimbo Route, covering the state of Rio Grande do Sul, integrated with Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile.