São Paulo – Nine Arab diplomats will visit Manaus, Amazonas from November 9 to 12. The visit’s goals include getting to know the city in the North of the country and see up close the state’s singularities, products, and potential for business and other areas of cooperation. Pictured above, Teatro Amazonas, a symbol of the city.
The mission will include the ambassadors of Palestine, Ibrahim Alzeben; Mauritania, Wagne Abdoulayne; Morocco, Nabil Adhoghi; Tunisia, Mohamed Hedi Soltani; Sudan, Abdelmoneim Ahmed Alamin Elhussain; Egypt, Wael Ahmed Kamal Aboul Magd; the League of Arab States, Qais Marouf Kheiro Shqair; as well chargés d’affaires of the embassy of Jordan, Mutazz Khasawneh, and Lybia, Osama Ibrahim Ayad Sawan.
The delegation will also feature the head of the Middle East division of Itamaraty, Leandro Vieira Silva, and Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce Administrative vice president Mohamed Mourad and secretary-general Tamer Mansour.
“These visits clear the way for ideas, partnerships, as well as potential trade and investment. Over the years, many projects and Arab-Brazilian partnerships started thanks to our visits. The Arab Chamber secretary-general’s presence eases up this trade and streamline the cooperation proceedings,” said Alzeben, who’s also the dean of the Council of Arab Ambassadors in Brazil.
Mansour believes the joint mission of the Arab Chamber and the Council of Ambassadors are extremely important to further relations between the Arab countries and individual Brazilian states.
“Amazonas is an important state since it’s an entryway for the products that the Arab countries most exports to Brazil, such as phosphate, fertilizers and derivatives, and also because it’s the only Brazilian state that has an operational free zone, the Free Zone of Manaus, which may be key to increase Arab investment in the state,” said the secretary-general.
The diplomats’ schedule includes meetings with the governor of the state, Wilson Lima (PSC); mayor of Manaus, Arthur Virgílio Neto (PSDB); and the superintendent of the Free Zone of Manaus (Suframa), Alfredo Menezes. It’ll also include a visit to the Honda plant, a meeting with Federation of Industries of the State of Amazonas (Fieam) president Antônio Silva, and participation in the seminar “Business and Investment Opportunities between Manaus and the Arab Countries.”
Alzeben said that the meetings with the governor and mayor open safe doors for companies and economic foundations in the state. “With the mayor, we’ll also try and establish Arab sister city processes to Manaus, the Brazilian green capital,” he reported.
Leading the delegation, the ambassador said he expects to meet businesspeople from several Amazonas manufacturing and service sectors. “I believe that the two most important parts of the visit, if we’re talking about business and partnerships, will be meeting with entrepreneurs and our fist visit to the free zone, which will allow us to discover new business models, innovative ideas and open a new window for cooperation and partnerships,” he said.
The meetings with businesspeople at the Federation of Industries, Mansour said, will serve to find out new paths and opportunities for products from the region, such as cosmetics and natural products from Amazônia to the Middle East and North Africa and, on the other hand, promoting goods from Arab countries such as fertilizers, polyethylene and items such as olive oil and dates.
Alzeben reported that the diplomats intend to coordinate visits by Arab officials and businesspeople to Amazonas, as well as visits by officials and businesspeople from Amazonas to the Arab countries.
“The state of Amazonas has many products that are still unknown and must be showcased. We’ll do our part. This is the best way to translate our sympathy and respect for Brazil and the state of Amazonas. We’re going with an open heart and mind to further our relations and partnerships,” said the ambassador.
“Institutionally speaking, this trip is key for the Arab Chamber to close its ties with the government of the state and the city of Manaus, and we’re keen to carry out a specific mission from the state to the Arab countries, maybe next year,” added Mansour.
Alzeben said that president Jair Bolsonaro’s visit to the Arab countries in late October opened up even more interchange opportunities, favoring exports and imports, as well as investment.
“It cleared the way for big Brazilian companies to operate in the Arab countries in industries such as construction and public works. I believe this partnership between the Arab countries and Brazil is undergoing a moment of growth revival. Within this promising atmosphere, which I see as a great opportunity, comes this visit to the state of Amazonas,” he stressed. Politically speaking, we’re going in order to express our sympathy to Amazonas, ratify our respect for Brazilian sovereignty and the importance that the whole Arab world feels for this Brazilian green state, the lung of our planet,” he finished.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
