Lima – The Aspa CEO Summit, a meeting to take place in the sidelines of the summit between both regions, will have representatives from Arab nation that lived changes due to the Arab Spring and should generate opportunities for meetings between South American businessmen and these new players. The opinion is by the president at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Salim Taufic Schahin, who is in Lima, Peru, to participate in the forum on Monday (1). "New representatives of these countries are going to learn about what is going on in South America and mainly in Brazil,” said Schahin.
The summit should take place on Monday and Tuesday (2). Schahin is participating in the company of the CEO at the Arab Brazilian Chamber, Michel Alaby, and advisor Alberto Pfeifer. He is also representing the General Union of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture for Arab Countries, at the request of president Adnan Kassar, and will be one of the panellists of debate "Beyond natural resources", to take place on Monday, at 4:00 pm, to include a talk by the emir of Qatar, Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani.
The debates will focus on themes like infrastructure, food safety and energy future. The speakers at the event also include the president of Lebanon, Michel Sleiman, the minister of Mines and Energy of Peru, Jorge Merino Tafur, and other Peruvian ministers. Among the panellists is the president of DP World, the ports sector company of Dubai, Ahmed Bin Sulayem, and the president of Hassad Food Company, from Qatar, Nasser Mohamed Al-Hajri, among others. In the agenda of the business forum, apart from the talks and debates, business meetings are also scheduled at the Swissôtel.
Schahin stated that the list of participants from the Arab world at the summit is representative, mainly if considering the new situation lived by the region. “This is important. Nowadays, Brazil and South America are on the radar for the Arab world,” he said. He recalls that there are many Arab nations that have surpluses and that Brazil has projects and needs capital. “It is an enormous opportunity for presentation of the projects, both in the area of food sustainability, which is important to the Arabs, and in development of infrastructure in Brazil, with projects in the mining and oil sectors,” said Schahin.
The president at the Arab Brazilian Chamber recalled the leap in trade between both regions over the last decade and stated that the organisation is working for there to be greater logistics support for that, pointing out the importance of direct flights between Brazil and the Arab world that have already been created by Qatar Airways and Emirates Airline. "We will also [still] get one by Etihad [Airways, from Abu Dhabi] in June next year. We are working for the other Arab countries to have direct connections with Brazil. This should boost not just tourism, but should also help Arab businessmen visit Brazil more and also Brazilian businessmen to visit the Arab world,” he said.
The Arab world, according to Schahin, was very distant from Brazil some years ago, due to the language and culture, and more turned to Europe and the United States. "But over the last ten years, relations with Brazil have been gaining intensity, and the Chamber played an important part in convincing the government of Brazil to come closer to the Arab world, and also approaching the Arab world to bring it closer to Brazil,” he said, also pointing out the work of prior boards at the organisation, as well as the current one.
Ten years ago, exports between Brazil and the Arab market were US$ 2.6 billion, according to the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade. Up to the eighth month of this year alone, they reached US$ 9.3 billion. Sales have more than tripled from then on. Imports rose from US$ 2.3 billion to US$ 7.7 billion.
*Translated by Mark Ament
