São Paulo – Actions designed to support the recovery of micro and small businesses from the crisis this year are a challenge facing chambers of commerce. Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) secretary-general Tamer Mansour moderated a discussion between chamber of commerce delegates that wrapped up the schedule on this Monday (19), the first day of the Economic Forum Brazil & Arab Countries. The event featured Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce secretary-general Alaa Ezz and Arab-German Chamber of Commerce secretary-general Abdul Aziz Al-Makhalafy (pictured above).
Alaa Ezz said public-private partnerships are breathing new life into small businesses in Egypt. “It has allowed us to make funding available and to ensure trade flows despite the issues stemming from Covid-19. We made doing business easier and we worked around problems way before they happened, because we were working with very similar situations to what we had in 2011 and 2014, so we were able to predict much of what happened.”
He said the pandemic prompted work to streamline paperwork requirements and to digitize. “The shelter-in-place orders constituted an opportunity to promote e-commerce and e-government. We also had access to financing, working with a cash-free society, with financial inclusion and other efforts in connection with online payments.”
Alaa Ezz believes that that helped Egypt’s performance, with 2.4% growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the last fiscal year, an increase in exports, and the sustainment of cooperation work with Brazil, among other countries. Tamer Mansour of the ABCC stressed the need to bring Brazilian and Egyptian business owners closer together. “We will see a lot of work taking place through this partnership for Brazilian and Egyptian businesses to grow more and more each day.”
Abdul Aziz Al-Makhalafy of the Arab-German Chamber of Commerce emphasized the need to revive economic programs amid the present situation. “The German administration rolled out a great economic program that saw it invest EUR 750 billion, partly to support businesses and ensure funding was available,” he said, adding that the European Union also approved programs to support local economies.
Al-Makhalafy argued that chambers of commerce can help rekindle the economy by sharing information and working closely with companies. “Germany plays a very big role in that regard. Me and my colleagues at the join chambers have kept abreast of those trends, in trade as well as investment. There is Arab investment in Europe, and European investment in some Arab countries,” he said, going on to state that he hopes to see mutual European-Arab investment increase. “I am optimistic, because the challenges have bred new ideas and initiatives. I believe that meetings such as this one are invaluable.”
The event also featured Jamal Fariz, president of the Jordanian Brazilian Business Association.
Check out the full coverage on ANBA.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
