São Paulo – Dedicated to attracting the interest of large Brazilian companies to his country, the Jordanian king, Abdullah II, had, during his visit to Brazil, a closed meeting with large businessmen and representatives of sector organisations. The meeting took place on Friday (24) at Renaissance hotel, in São Paulo.
Among those talking to the monarch was the former minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade of Brazil, Luiz Fernando Furlan, who is currently the chairman of the board of governors at Sadia. According to Furlan, the king spoke about the areas that are in expansion in his country, like infrastructure and food.
"He also spoke about opportunities for cooperation at a moment in which Jordan is negotiating a trade agreement with the Mercosur," said Furlan to ANBA.
According to the CEO at Sadia, Gilberto Tomazoni, who was also at the meeting, the company exports the equivalent to US$ 20 million a year to Jordan in chicken and industrialized food.
Furlan added that he told the king that import tariffs of these products in the country are a little higher than those practiced in other nations of the Arabian Gulf. Abdulah II said he would discuss the matter with his minister of Industry and Trade, Amer Al Hadidi, so that it may be included in future negotiations with the Mercosur.
Tomazoni recalled, however, that Sadia is about to build a factory in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, which should bring tax benefits in sales to other Arab countries. He believes in expansion of exports to Jordan. "It is a country that grows in an economy based on services, and the population buys greater value-added products," he said.
Another businessman who participated in the meeting was the former minister of Agriculture, Marcus Vinícius Pratini de Moraes, now a member of the board of governors of slaughterhouse JBS Friboi, the largest in Brazil and one of the largest in the world. According to him, Abdullah II showed that his country has great economic opening and emphasized investment opportunities. "Jordan is a warehouse, a depot like Singapore and Dubai, and plays this part especially with regard to Iraq," he said.
Pratini added that the king even mentioned the elaboration of specific laws to simplify Brazilian investment and trade with the country. According to him, exports of Brazilian beef to Jordan generated around US$ 20 million in 2007 and reached US$ 18 million in the period from January to September this year. "We are going to exceed the figure for last year," he declared. The former minister stated that Friboi participates with 35% of cattle beef exported to the Arab country.
Beef without crisis
Pratini also spoke about the possible effects of the international financial crisis in the sector of cattle beef. He does not expect lower demand. "We cannot forget that Brazil is the last agricultural frontier in the world," he added. The former minister, however, pointed out that there has already been a reduction of food prices. "But some prices were very high due to speculation," he said.
He added that the main problem at the moment is the lack of availability of export financing. "The country needs this credit now," he said, adding that if it is not available Brazil may not only have a deficit in financial transactions with the foreign market, but also in the trade balance.
Other executives present at the meeting were the president of the Syrian-Lebanese Hospital, Ivette Rizkallah, the vice president of the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (Fiesp), Elias Miguel Haddad, the CEO of pharmaceutical industry Medley, Jairo Yamamoto, the president of Itaú Securities, Roberto Nishikawa, the president of Nossa Caixa bank, Milton de Melo Santos, the international business, defence and government sector vice president at Embraer, Eduardo Munhós de Campos, the CEO of Amsted Maxion, Ricardo Chuahy, the president of the international unit at construction company Camargo Correa, Carlos Fernando Namur, and the president at Crystalsev, Rui Lacerda Ferraz, among others.
Also present were the president at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Antonio Sarkis Jr., vice presidents Salim Schahin (Foreign Trade), Helmi Nasr (Foreign Relations), Rubens Hannun (Marketing), the chairman of the board of governors, Willian Adib Dib, and director Mustapha Abdouni, who is also the honorary consul of Jordan to São Paulo.
*Translated by Mark Ament