São Paulo – The Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce is hosting its first online event amid the coronavirus lockdown. The Webinar “Brazil and Arab Countries: food supply chain, current perspectives and challenges” will take place next Wednesday, April 8, from 9 am to 10:30 am, featuring Brazil’s Agriculture, Livestock and Supply minister Tereza Cristina, Union of Arab Chambers secretary-general Khaled Hanafy, of Egypt, and Arab Chamber president Rubens Hannun.
Hannun will kick off the event with an introductory speech. Arab Chamber secretary-general Tamer Mansour will be the moderator. Simultaneous interpretation into Portuguese and English will be available. Registration is available here and slots are limited.
The webinar will address subjects including but not limited to the supply of food and the challenges facing Brazil and the Arab countries, existing issues, good practices being embraced by different countries.
“This webinar is in line with our approach of constantly connecting Arabs and Brazilians. And this connection has become much harder now, because even the flights have been grounded. However, food trade cannot stop by any means, and since Brazil is the biggest supplier to Arab countries, we’ll have the minister speak so that she can give an overview of the industry to Arab players, from production to shipping,” said Hannun.
According to the Arab Chamber’s president, Hanafy will discuss the expectations of Arab countries regarding trade relations with Brazil.
“Agribusiness underpins Brazilian-Arab relations. It is a very sensitive issue, because it involves the entire supply chain. The idea for this meeting is to breed comprehension and to convey Brazil’s vision to businesses and governments in Arab countries,” said Arab Chamber Institutional Relations manager Fernanda Baltazar. She explains that Arab countries are facilitating the import of goods by lifting import tariffs on staples to prevent an undersupply.
Q1 2020 saw USD 1.65 billion worth of agribusiness products shipped from Brazil to the 22 Arab countries, down 4.8% year-on-year. Shipped volume was down 5.65% to 3.16 million tons. Brazil’s exports to Arab countries trailed only those to China. The biggest Arab importers of Brazilian agribusiness products were Saudi Arabia, Algeria and the UAE.
Registration for the bilingual seminar is available for executives in Arab Chamber member companies in Brazil and the Arab countries, Arab chambers of commerce, personnel from embassies in Brazil and the Arab countries, officials in directly involved governments, and the general public.
This webinar will be the first in a series of meetings that will see Arabs and Brazilians discuss relevant and pressing current issues. A second event covering logistics is in the works for the subsequent week.
Quick facts
Webinar
Brazil and Arab Countries
The food supply chain: current perspectives and challenges
Wednesday, April 8, 2020, 9 am to 10:30 am
Register here
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
