São Paulo – Bahrain’s ambassador to Brazil, Bader Alhelaibi, fulfilled a schedule of appointments in Belo Horizonte, the capital city of Minas Gerais, this week and met with state governor Romeu Zema Neto and secretary of Agriculture Thales Fernandes. Alhelaibi stated his visit to Belo Horizonte had several motivations, mainly because the state is the leading exporter of iron ore and steel and one of the major food suppliers to the kingdom of Bahrain. Pictured above, Alhelaibi and Zema.
“Minas Gerais contributes a lot to our construction sector and food security, so I wanted to know it up close and highlight the importance of developing cooperation in these highly important sectors with the state and discover new areas for cooperation between the private sectors of both countries that could help boost trade,” he said.
Alhelaibi was accompanied by the secretary-general of the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC), Tamer Mansour. On Monday (2), the ambassador and Mansour met with the secretary of Agriculture, Thales Fernandes, and the secretariat’s superintendent of Innovation and Agricultural Economics, Feliciano Nogueira de Oliveira. “It was a great meeting; the secretary presented the potential Minas Gerais’ agriculture, especially coffee, and we talked about the possibility of technical cooperation in agriculture and a joint venture in food security,” said the ambassador.
This Tuesday (3), Alhelaibi and Mansour met with state governor Romeu Zema Neto, who was accompanied by the secretary of Government, Gustavo Valadares, chief of Staff, Marcelo Aro, and secretary of Economic Development, Fernando Passalio.
“We discussed aspects of bilateral cooperation in the economic, commercial, and investment fields, means of developing it to meet the aspirations of both countries and the importance of exchanging high-level visits between the authorities of the Kingdom of Bahrain and Minas Gerais to discover investment opportunities in both countries,” said Alhelaibi.
Alhelaibi and Mansour also met with representatives from financial companies XP Investimentos and Banco Mercantil do Brasil. At XP Investimentos, the ambassador said they discussed joint venture projects in food security, aluminum, and iron ore. “We also discussed the favorable foreign investment climate, particularly in the state of Minas Gerais,” he said.
“At Banco Mercantil do Brasil, the possibility of a visit to financial institutions in Bahrain was discussed, and we talked about their success path in the credit line, mainly for customers over 50 years old,” said the ambassador.
Arab Brazilian Chamber
According to Mansour, the trip aimed to strengthen economic and cultural ties between the ABCC and the state of Minas Gerais. “Concerning economic relations, we discussed increasing strategic partnerships on food security and inviting more Bahraini and Minas Gerais investors to establish joint partnerships and invest in Minas Gerais and Bahrain,” informed the secretary-general.
Mansour said the meeting with the governor served to strengthen ties with the state. “Zema mentioned he would be eager to promote business and institutional missions to the Arab world, and the ABCC made itself available to coordinate the actions with the staff from the state’s Foreign Trade and International Relations Secretariats,” he concluded.
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
