São Paulo – Yesterday (1st), during a meeting in São Paulo, the director of the International Relations Department of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Hassan Al Hashemi, proposed to the board of directors of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce the promotion of a Dubai-São Paulo business forum. The project was readily accepted by the Chamber directors in attendance.
The idea, according to him, is to have an event similar to the one promoted by the Dubai Chamber in partnership with the city of Hamburg, in Germany. Sectors with strong business potential were identified in the two cities and two meetings were held, one in Hamburg and another in Dubai, focusing on those segments.
The fields selected were healthcare, logistics, energy, banking and finance, and media. “We focused on sectors with growth and knowledge transfer potential,” said Hashemi. After the two annual meetings, business missions were held for each specific sector.
Hashemi declared that one of the objectives of his visit to Brazil was precisely to start organizing a trip of a delegation of businessmen to Dubai. “And which is the best partner? We regard you as a very important partner,” said he, referring to the Arab Brazilian Chamber.
The executive stated that the Brazilian companies are increasingly present at business events in the emirate, and it is time for Dubai-based companies to do the same in Brazil.
The two chambers committed to trading economic studies on their respective cities, so as to identify the sectors with the greatest potential for bilateral business, and to consider possible dates for the forum. The intention is to hold the first meeting in 2010.
Hashemi, the senior Foreign Relations executive of the Dubai Chamber, Maysa Humadi, the vice president for Sales at the Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza), Mohammad Al Banna, and the Sales manager for Europe at the Jafza, Mansoor Al Bastaki, also came to São Paulo to attend a seminar on business opportunities in Dubai.
The conference was held yesterday at the World Trade Centre in São Paulo, and was organized by the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex), with support from the Arab Brazilian Chamber. According to Hashemi, attendance was good and Brazilian businessmen showed much interest in the information that was presented on Dubai.
Trade is growing again
He said that he was questioned regarding the Dubai World default, a holding company that controls a host of companies in the emirate, and replied that the issue was overblown. “This is not our first crisis,” he said. He recalled that over one hundred Brazilian businessmen were at the Big 5 Show, a civil construction fair held in Dubai last week, as exhibitors or visitors.
Hashemi recommended that those in doubt regarding the business potential in the emirate ask the businessmen who were recently there and also the companies that work in Dubai. He said that the Big 5 attracted 3,000 companies from 55 countries. “It was crowded,” he declared.
The international financial crisis and the recent default by Dubai World mainly affected the real estate sector. Hashemi pointed out, however, that trade answers to the largest part of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Dubai. “We identified a reduction [of trade in the beginning of the crisis], but we are now back at the same level as in the previous year,” he said. “It is better than we expected,” he added.
The reason for participating in the seminar, according to him, was to attract companies that may use the services offered by Dubai in their business, especially Jebel Ali Free Zone, where some Brazilian companies are already installed and the Apex has an office.
The meeting with Hashemi also included the secretary general at the Arab Brazilian Chamber, Michel Alaby, vice presidents Wladimir Freua (Foreign Trade) and Marcelo Sallum (Administration), the Treasury director, Nahid Chicani, and the manager of the Apex Business Centre in Dubai, Fabiana Giuntini Giffoni, as well as other representatives of the agency and the Arab Brazilian Chamber.
*Translated by Mark Ament
