French bridge to Brazil: The Caribbean should not be stranded

The world is about to see Europe linked to South America in a way that has never happened before. A bridge will link French Guiana, the last European outpost in the Americas, with Brazil, the largest country in South America and now the sixth largest economy in the world.

There are other physical links to Brazil, but none from Europe. Once the bridge between French Guiana and Brazil is opened, so too will open the opportunity for greater trade and investment between the European Union (EU) and Brazil since, for all administrative purposes, French Guiana is as much a part of France as Paris.

Sarkozy's interest in the relationship between French Guiana and Brazil will go beyond the physical link between the two neighbours to the economic opportunities it can provide for France and, by extension, the EU. Brazil has a population of about 200 million and its economy grew by 7.5 per cent in 2010, and was forecast to grow another 3.5 per cent in 2011. It is rich in natural resources and is open to European investment.

On the other side, Brazil has a vibrant manufacturing sector and, remarkably, it sells more to China than it imports. For Brazil, the link to French Guiana could lead to a direct land-crossing to the Atlantic Ocean for parts of its huge territory from which overland transportation to its own Atlantic coast is expensive.

This possibility will be additional to a border crossing established in 2009 between Brazil and Guyana when a bridge was built over the Takutu River that barely divides the two countries at Brazil's northern point. However, while the bridge accommodates regular traffic between Brazil's northern area — Roraima — and Guyana, there is not an all-weather road from the bridge to Guyana's coast. Until the all-weather road is constructed, Brazil still cannot use Guyana effectively for transporting exports from its northern region.

French bridge to Brazil: The Caribbean should not be stranded - Columns - JamaicaObserver.com