São Paulo – The head of the Middle East Department of the Brazilian foreign ministry (Itamaraty), ambassador Sarkis Karmirian, was named honorary member of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce this Friday. The certificate was awarded by the president of the Chamber, Salim Taufic Schahin. The meeting was attended by the Arab Brazilian Chamber’s Marketing vice president, Rubens Hannun, and by director Sami Roumieh.
The title is awarded to people who have contributed to establish closer ties between Brazil and the Arab countries. Karmirian has been in charge of the Middle East Department at the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Relations since 2004.
According to the ambassador, the Brazilian government programme for closer ties with the Arab countries, which started in 2003 as president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva travelled to the Middle East for the first time, has surpassed expectations. “There has been a reversal of expectations. Now, Arab countries are calling for Brazilian presence,” said Karmirian.
Since relations became closer, Brazil been contacted to sign several deals. According to Karmirian, apart from trade, Arab countries want to cooperate in sectors such as science, technology and tourism. “They (Arabs) have been proposing several agreements,” he said.
From 2003 onwards, Brazilian trade with Arab countries has grown continually. According to data supplied by the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Brazilian exports to the Arab world have risen from US$ 2.76 billion in 2003 to US$ 9.82 billion in 2008, and totalled US$ 9.4 billion in 2009, a year of crisis and retraction of global trade.
“Brazil is now a country that sets itself apart. Its presence is stronger worldwide,” said Schahin, who works alongside the government to establish closer ties with the Arab world. “In addition to trade, we are promoting closer cultural ties,” he added.
In 2008, the minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Miguel Jorge, was also paid a tribute by the Arab Brazilian Chamber and named honorary member of the organization.
Profile
Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1948, Sarkis Karmirian holds a degree in Law and worked at an embassy for the first time in 1975, in Algiers, Algeria, as third secretary. Karmirian also worked as first secretary at the embassies of Rome, Luanda and London. In 2001, he became head of cabinet of the Undersecretariat General for Bilateral Policy of the Brazilian government. In 2003, he assumed the position of director of the Near East Department.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
