São Paulo – The Council of Arab Ambassadors to Brazil, formed by the heads of Arab countries’ diplomatic representations in the Brazilian capital Brasília, paid a two-day visit to the state of Minas Gerais, with support from the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce. The group attended meetings with the governor of the state, Antonio Anastasia, with the mayor of Belo Horizonte (the state capital), Márcio Lacerda, and with businessmen connected with the Federation of Industries of the State of Minas Gerais (Fiemg).
The goal, according to the Arab Brazilian Chamber secretary general Michel Alaby, who accompanied the ambassadors, was to promote "greater integration between the Arab countries and the state of Minas Gerais". The president of the Arab Brazilian Chamber, Salim Taufic Schahin, took part in a significant share of the meetings.
Activities such as attending trade fairs, organizing trade missions and exchanging official delegations will be carried out. Alaby added that the Arab Brazilian Chamber, alongside the Fiemg, is going to establish a workgroup to put the exchange efforts to action.
Another possibility discussed during the meetings was sending a trade mission from the state of Minas to the Arab world, as has already happened in the past.
In addition to discussing trade and government relations, Alaby informed that the governor and the mayor expressed their support to "any Arab cultural manifestation" to take place in the state in the future.
The visitors were the ambassadors of Jordan, Ramez Goussous, of Qatar, Jamal Al Bader, of Tunisia, Seifeddine Cherif, of Palestine, Ibrahim Alzeben, of Egypt, Ahmed Darwish, of Saudi Arabia, Mohamad Amin Ali Mohamad Kurdi, of Morocco, Mohamed Louafa, of Sudan, Abdelghani Awad El Karim, of Iraq, Baker Fattah Hussen Hussen, of Algeria, Dejamel Eddine Omar Bennaoum, of Kuwait, Yousef Ahmad Abdulsamad, of the Arab League, Bachar Yaghi, and the charges d’affaires of the embassy of Syria, Ghassan Obeid, of Mauritania, Ahmed Mahmoud Ould Ethmane, of Oman, Omar Said Omar Al-Kathiri, and of Lebanon, Jimmy Douaihy.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
