Marina Sarruf*
São Paulo – Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika visited yesterday (01) the Brazilian sand at the inauguration of Algiers International Fair, in the capital of the African Arab country. Bouteflika commented that in the last nine years of the fair, it has always counted on the participation of Brazilian companies. "This strengthens the idea of establishing partnerships," stated the Algerian president. The fair will be opened to the public today and will go on up to June 08th.
The secretary general at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Michel Alaby, and the Brazilian ambassador to Algiers, Sérgio França Danese, showed the stand to president Bouteflika. One of the attractions at the stand is a red Cross Fox vehicle, a car designed and produced by Volkswagen Brazil. The vehicle, which was released last year, has a 1.6 dual fuel engine and was produced in São José dos Pinhais, in the southern Brazilian state of Paraná. Apart from the vehicle, Alaby showed the furniture of some of the nine Brazilian companies in the sector that are participating in the fair.
Alaby also presented Bouteflika with a wooden marketry picture and with a shirt of the Brazilian National Football Team. In all, 15 Brazilian companies participated in the fair. There are also makers of lorry trailers, powdered milk, tools and aircraft. The stand is organized by the Arab Brazilian Chamber.
According to information disclosed by news agency Algérie Presse Service (APS), the inauguration of the fair was marked by the participation of members of the government and of embassies of the countries participating. The fair includes 1,635 exhibitors from 45 countries. Among them, 515 companies from Algeria, 325 from France and 50 from the United States, in the telecommunications, computer, tourism, construction, food, transport, pharmaceutical, banking and insurance sectors, among others.
Bilateral trade between Brazil and Algeria totalled US$ 729.6 million between January and April this year. Brazilian exports totalled US$ 76.7 million. The main products shipped were sugar, soy, iron ore, meat, vehicles and milk. Regarding imports, they totalled US$ 652.9 million. This value refers mainly to the purchase of oil, naphtha for the petrochemical industry and gas.
Bouteflika has already been in Brazil
In May last year, the Algerian president visited Brazil to participate in the summit of Arab and South American countries, which took place between May 10 and 11, in Brazilian capital Brasília. After that, Bouteflika travelled to São Paulo, in the southeast of the country, where he met with former governor Geraldo Alckmin and with the president of the Arab Brazilian Chamber, Antonio Sarkis Jr.
During the trip to Brasília, president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Bouteflika signed agreements in the phytosantiary, sanitary, veterinary sectors and in visa elimination for civil servants on official trips.
*Translated by Mark Ament
