São Paulo – The holding of a trade mission, a seminar, and a fair focused on Brazilian products were some of the topics discussed during the visit of executives from the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) to Oman in late February. The Secretary-General and Vice President of International Relations of the ABCC, Mohamad Mourad, met with the Vice President of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Rashid Al-Musalhi, in a meeting where both institutions agreed to strengthen their partnership through joint events.
The head of the ABCC office in Dubai, Rafael Solimeo, also attended the meeting. The appointments in Muscat, the capital of the Gulf country, were supported by the Brazilian Embassy in Oman. The ABCC executives were welcomed at the embassy by Minister-Counselor Milton Coutinho and Business Development Manager Helaine Galerani.
As a result of this meeting, the Oman Chamber will select local entrepreneurs to join the Global Halal Brazil Business Forum in Brazil, an event about halal products—with halal meaning fit for Muslim consumption—that has the ABCC as one of its organizers. The forum will take place in October this year. In addition to the delegation, Al-Musalhi said he will suggest someone to speak at the event.
Al-Musalhi, who is a member of the Arab Council of the ABCC, Mourad, and Solimeo also discussed the organization of a Brazilian business mission to Oman in November this year and the planning of a seminar in the country titled “Why Brazil?”, focused on business opportunities with Brazil. They also talked about holding the “Made in Brazil” trade fair for Brazilian products in September.
Economic ties with Oman
These measures are part of efforts to expand trade between the two countries, which is still concentrated in a few products. In 2024, Brazil exported USD 1.2 billion to Oman, an increase from USD 1.19 billion in 2023. It imported USD 800.5 million in 2024, also up from USD 675.2 million the previous year. Iron ore and chicken meat were the main export products, while fertilizers and petroleum derivatives led imports.
Iron ore, however, accounted for more than USD 954 million of Brazil’s exports to Oman last year because mining company Vale exports ore from Brazil to its processing plant in Oman, from where it re-exports to Asia and the Middle East. The country has several industrial zones, like the one Vale operates in at the Sohar port, and is keen to attract more Brazilian companies to these units, which offer logistical advantages due to Oman’s geographical location.
“There is the goal of bringing more Brazilian companies to various free zones in Oman, not only thinking about the domestic market but also about re-exporting to countries on the East African coast and the Asian market,” said Mourad to ANBA.
He and Solimeo also met with executives from Asyad, a company that operates in the logistics sector and has, in its portfolio, three deep-water ports, a dry port, two free zones, an economic zone, and a shipyard. The company is considering the creation of a direct container shipping line between Oman and Brazil.
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Oman to hold exhibition, forum focused on Brazil
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
