By: @mariapazvaesken

Carlos III, the new King of England, together with his Prime Minister and Parliament, intend to strengthen the alliance between the two countries, increase commercial exchanges, and empower Paraguay to become a leader in sustainable energy, robotics, health, and agrotechnology, as pointed out by Ramin Navai, British Ambassador in an exclusive interview for FOCO Magazine.

His Majesty’s Coronation The King and Queen Consort is a major cultural event for the United Kingdom with global reach. World leaders from everywhere, including the President of the Republic of Paraguay, witnessed and celebrated the historic coronation ceremony and the events that accompanied it. His Majesty was crowned King of Great Britain and 14 other independent Kingdoms where he was also Head of State.

How could Carlos III’s government benefit Paraguay?

Beyond the cultural and historical importance brought by this event, it is important to note that our model of Country has a King as the Head of State, but the role of government administration is performed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Parliament. In this regard, relations within our country will remain the same, with the positive addition of our government’s interest in promoting its relations with Paraguay and Latin America.

Last December, Secretary of State James Cleverly renewed his commitment to make ongoing and long-term efforts to strengthen our partnership. We renewed this commitment in March this year with the visit to Paraguay by the British Deputy Chancellor and Minister for the Americas and the Caribbean, David Rutley.

How do you intend to strengthen the trade relationship between the two countries?

Increasing trade between Paraguay and the UK is a priority we have worked on since the reopening of our local missions ten years ago. I have dedicated my greatest efforts to this field since I arrived as ambassador in 2020, and our government has accompanied this work with ministerial-level visits over the last year.

Evidence of this great commitment can also be seen from the visit of Minister David Rutley, who recently visited Paraguay last March. On this occasion, Minister Rutley signed an agreement with the Department of Foreign Affairs in which we committed to strengthening cooperation, including commercial exchanges.

Recently, His Excellency High Commissioner for Trade in Latin America and the Caribbean, Jonathan Knott, paid a visit to our country during the month of May.

As part of their program, we focus on areas such as sustainable energy, robotics and health, and agrotechnology.

Our Department of Business and Commerce or Department of Business and Commerce in English, also has a local representation in Paraguay through our embassy and has structural support at the regional level. Through it we offer support to UK companies and businesses looking to connect with the country.

What area would you like to promote?

Paraguay has great potential to become a leader in sustainable energy. I’m not saying this: Minister Rutley himself highlighted this extraordinary quality of Paraguay at the end of his recent visit to the country. One of the UK’s main investments in the country is precisely aimed at developing sustainable technologies for the future.

But England and Paraguay have much more that they have been working on together, and we will continue to do that. I mentioned agrotechnology, a field which also has tremendous potential to combine British know-how and technological infrastructure with the prolific production of Paraguay.

We also recently witnessed the arrival of the first surgical robot in Paraguay, from a British company. In fact, technology in general is an area in which we have a lot to offer Paraguay.

It is important to underline that we also have local allies who have historically developed commercial links between our countries, such as the Paraguayan-British Chamber of Commerce.

Several figures of Paraguay-British bilateral trade…

Until 2019, we had about 68% more commercial exchanges compared to 2010, which speaks to us of continued growth with an increasing trend. The pandemic caused some ups and downs, but even with these challenges, the volume of exports from Paraguay to the UK again increased by 40% from 2021 to 2022.

Total trade in goods and services (exports plus imports) between the UK and Paraguay is £77 million in 2022. Of this £77 million, UK exports to Paraguay total £42 million in 2022, while UK imports total from Paraguay are £35 million in the four quarters to the end of Q4 2022.

We believe that the volume of commercial exchanges can be even greater. We are committed to continuing to build this business relationship.

What are the UK’s main investments in Paraguay?

I highlight the investment of Atome Energy PLC, a subsidiary of a British company from Leeds focused on green hydrogen production in Paraguay using hydroelectric power. Atome manages the purchase of an electrolyzer with a capacity of 1 MW. In this way, green hydrogen production in Paraguay can start in the short term.

In recent years we have also supported investment and knowledge exchange between the two countries, with projects such as Smart Farm pilots; and with the import of British sheep genetics, with a view to expanding from Paraguay into the region. In fact, the National Sheep Association of Great Britain (NSA) and the Sheep Breeders Association of Paraguay (APCO) are working on a cooperative agreement to stimulate the opening of new markets for UK sheep genetics, in the medium and long term.

We recently announced the import into Paraguay of Versius, a robotic surgical system from British company CMR Surgical. Versius is a surgical robot for minimally invasive surgery with accuracy and precision. This model is the first of its kind, opening new frontiers for medicine and the use of robotic technologies for healthcare in Paraguay.

We also have success stories in Paraguay, like Unilever. Unilever has been operating in Paraguay since 1996. Unilever employs 95 people directly and around 1,150 people indirectly.

Why is Paraguay considered a good destination for UK investors?

Because of its macroeconomic stability, its discipline with monetary and fiscal policies, its government which promotes free trade, and its strategic geographical position. Paraguay is a country with great potential to become a leader in clean energy, and has a young population committed to the future.

How do you cooperate with state education?

The Chevening scholarship program in Paraguay is one of our most successful areas of cooperation. Since the program’s introduction in 1988, we have had more than 133 Paraguayan students participating in the program.

Recently, Minister Rutley signed a renewal of the agreement between Chevening and the Paraguayan government’s BECAL scholarship program, which has made it possible for an increasing number of students to choose to undertake a master’s degree in any of the UK’s countries.

This has been achieved in collaboration with the government of Paraguay, and with the more than 50 British universities that have been represented at university fairs in recent years. At least 35 of the UK’s most prestigious universities have welcomed Paraguayan students in recent years.

What can you highlight about Paraguay?

I love the weather. I know a lot of people here complain about the weather, but I love the heat! It’s different from my country’s climate. I love the heat of Paraguay.

I am a football fan: I will not name the teams, I will only say that I love the passion that Paraguayans have for football.

I don’t speak Guarani, but I love listening to it, as well as the history and importance of the language in Paraguayan culture. This shows that the country is very different from neighboring countries; also the music sung in Guarani is something i listen to.

The food, I am a carnivore and Paraguayan meat is the best in the world. Also chipa guazú, I’m team chipa although I also love Paraguayan soup.

The view, I was recently in Amambay, at Pedro Juan Caballero and the view is beautiful. I remember the first day I arrived in Asunción, I saw the green of the trees. A large part of the embassy’s work is fighting climate change and being in Paraguay I see that ecosystem conservation is something that is very important.

People, more than anything, are people, that’s why I feel very at home and I’m very happy here.

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‣ Ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Paraguay since October 2020. ‣ Second Head of Counter-Daesh Communications Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2017 to 2020. ‣ Second Consul General to the British Consulate General in Chicago, United States of America, 2010 to 2015. ‣ Second Political Secretary to the British Embassy in Bogotá, Colombia from 2006 to 2010.