From the Newsroom*
São Paulo – The Brazil-Arab News Agency (ANBA) broke a new number of visits record in the month of March. The total reached 38,447. In the first three months of 2005, the agency received 87,363 visits, almost four times more than the total in the same period last year. ANBA brings news about economics, culture and foreign trade, especially with regard to relations between Brazil and the 22 countries in the League of Arab States.
"This is the result of hard work and of the engagement in supplying Brazilian and Arab businessmen with news about economics and business opportunities in both regions," stated Antonio Sarkis Jr., the president of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (CCAB), the organization that manages ANBA.
According to Sarkis, the increase in the number of visits – from 28,227 in February to 38,477 in March – demonstrates the credibility that ANBA has gained with its public. "This also shows that the agency has consolidated itself as a reference for journalists in its area of operation, through the partnerships it has with other agencies from Brazil and the Arab world," he added.
Visits to the ANBA site have been rising gradually since the site was established, in September 2003. In its first month in operation the agency received 3,651 visits. One year later, in September 2004, the number had risen to 25,728 – the month that received the largest number of visits last year.
To Joel dos Santos Guimarães, the ANBA editor-in-chief and director of Meios Agência de Comunicação, the company that created the editorial design of the news agency, the growth in the number of visits to the site shows the weight of communication in trade relations between countries. "Brazilian businessmen with interests in the Middle East now visit ANBA to find information regarding the local market, possible partners and the needs of those countries," he said. The same occurs in the Arab countries.
Partnerships
ANBA has versions in English and Portuguese and is visited from Brazil and from the Arab countries. The site has agreements for reproduction of the content of four news agencies in the Middle East. Algérie Presse Service, Emirates News Agency, Kuwait News Agency and Yemen News Agency are ANBA partners. In Brazil, there are agreements with the Federation of Industries of the State of Paraná (Fiep) and with Agência Brasil, the official government news agency.
*Translated by Mark Ament
