Lima – The existence of abundant natural resources helps Brazil export food to the Arab world. “We export water to them through our food exports. Without water, we could not export,” said Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce president Salim Taufic Schahin, on participating in debate “Beyond Natural Resources”, at the Aspa CEO Summit. The meeting began on Monday (1) and ends on Tuesday (2) in Lima, Peru.
Schahin recalled that there is a dearth of water in the Middle East and that the American continent has the main sweet water aquifers in the world. The proposal of the debate was to question whether the abundance of natural resources is a limitation to development and innovation. Specialists showed that it is not. Schahin mentioned the example of Petrobras, the Brazilian oil company, which developed specialized labour in pre-salt exploration and also brought much investment, with job generation in the chain.
Issad Rebrab, the president at Cevital, a company that produces food in Algeria, was the main speaker at the panel and provided several examples of the economic benefits generated by adding value to products, instead of selling them as raw material. “Extracting products from the soil and underground we cannot generate jobs and riches for the whole country, but when we transform the resources, we can,” he said. The executive recalled that the tonne of cotton costs on average US$ 2,000, while a tonne of shirts is sold for US$ 10,000. In the same line, propane costs US$ 600 a tonne, but may be sold for US$ 1,200 if it becomes propylene and US$ 3,000 if made into synthetic fibre.
Rebrab stated that true riches of countries are their inhabitants. "If countries invest in training men and women they will provide support to these people and create more riches,” he said. Therefore, he added, the rich ones are not the countries that have raw materials, but the ones capable of transforming them.
The Environment minister of Peru, Manuel Pulgar Vidal, called attention to the need for careful evaluation of industrial projects, even if they are for generation of wealth. He said that if instead of exploring ore and selling it in bulk, the product was transformed, the creation of ironworks, for example, would also have an impact on the environment.
Desertification, which has been growing with global warming, was also included in the panel and was the object of an agreement, on Monday, between Brazil’s National Institute of the Semi-Arid (Insa) and the Arab Center for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands, under the Arab League. They agreed to exchange information and projects in the area, among other actions. The expansion of desertification concerns both Brazil, which has semiarid regions, and the Arab world, which has significant volumes of desert areas.
Invitation
During the panel, the president at the Arab Brazilian Chamber also spoke about migration, after all, it is estimated that Brazil has 12 million Arab descendants. He recalled their contribution in several spheres of the country’s development, like the medical area, where they developed hospitals of excellence and international renown. “We were so well set up in Brazil that we did not think about our ancient origins and about [how to do] business with them,” said Schahin, regarding the period prior to the establishment of the Arab Brazilian Chamber, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.
He mentioned that throughout the years, the organisation has been working for the generation of closer ties with the region and that, today, bilateral trade between Brazil and the Arab world is US$ 25 billion. “There is enormous potential in relations between South America and the Arab countries,” said Schahin. He invited the remaining South American countries to establish Chambers of Commerce and work together under the same federation. The Arab Brazilian Chamber is also represented at the forum by CEO Michel Alaby, managing vice president Marcelo Sallum and advisor Alberto Pfeifer.
Leaders
The closer ties mentioned by Schahin, which have been taking place in recent years, were very visible in the first day of the summit in Lima. The room where the talks were given was crowded and many businessmen met at roundtables and in informal conversations in the hallways of the summit.
Lebanese president Michel Sleiman recalled that the Arab and South American worlds had spectacular growth despite the global economic crisis.
“We have a global economic crisis and must work together to find the best solutions for all,” said the joint secretary general of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Benhelli. He pointed out the importance of improving Visa issuing between countries to strengthen cooperation.
Sleiman also mentioned his concern with job generation among youths. “We face the challenge of demographic growth, and there are more and more youths arriving in the work market,” he said. He added that the agenda between both regions should involve this matter, as well as others, like energy. The president defended the principles of equality and democracy in the world and added that Israel has been going against them, referring to the Palestinian question.
*Translated by Mark Ament
