São Paulo – The CEO at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Michel Alaby, signed two cooperation agreements in Tunisia, one at the Sfax Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the other at the Tunis Chamber of Commerce and Industry, at meetings on Thursday (26) and Friday (27).
“We agreed that it will be a requirement for the Arab Brazilian Chamber to issue a certificate of origin (for exports to Tunisia),” said Alaby, regarding his meeting in the Tunisian capital. He met with the vice president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Tunis, Aouatef Elioumi Elghoul, and with Nacheet Azzouz, a director at the organisation.
The meeting also included Faida Neffati, board member of cosmetics company Sarab. The organisation produces products for skin cleaning form date essence and is interested in importing Brazilian beauty products, mainly sunblock.
In Sfax, Alaby met with the organisation’s vice president, Ridha Ufourati, with the president of the Trade Commission, Adel Hamani, with the International Relations director, Nathalie Ben Ayed, and with director Mourad Boulila. The agreement signed there should start being put into practice after promotion of an event in the city.
“As the first activity, we are going to try to promote a building sector fair for them here, for Brazilian companies to participate in.” The event should take place in Sfax, in March 2013. Alaby said that Sfax has a 250 kilometre border with Libya, and may serve as warehousing for products for the neighbouring nation. “There is an import boom in the area of building material, decorations and furniture”.
According to Alaby, the Tunisians want the support of the Arab Brazilian Chamber to participate in the food sector fair São Paulo State Supermarket Association (Apas), also in 2013. “They want to sell olive oil, dates, wine and olives,” he said.
Sfax is the second largest city in Tunisia. The CEO at the Arab Brazilian Chamber explained that, apart from food products, local businessmen have other trade interests with Brazil.
“They are interested in selling shoes and chemical products. They also want to establish an agreement for production of generic medication, and are seeking a Brazilian company interested in partnerships,” he said. One month ago, the city gained an airline for local flights. “It may be a good market for Brazilian aircraft,” he said.
Alaby also had other meetings in Tunisia. At the offices of the Tunisian Union of the Industry, Trade and Craft (Utica), he met with Ali Nakai, the central-director for Foreign Relations. “They are currently heading the [Brazil-Tunisia] business council on the Tunisian side. After June, the council, which is out of operation, should be reactivated,” he said.
At the Ministry of Trade, Alaby met with the director general for Economic and Trade Cooperation, Zaida Hachicha. “She believes it would be good for certificates of origin to be issued by the Arab Brazilian Chamber. We also spoke about the mixed committee and the possibility of starting negotiations for a Mercosur-Tunisia agreement,” he said.
“We also spoke about promoting Brazilian products, and she suggested that we promote a seminar to give local businessmen an idea of Brazil’s exports and imports,” he explained.
To Alaby, the meetings in Tunisia made it possible to have a good idea of how the country is reorganizing itself after the Arab Spring. “In the economic point of view, it is stable. What is concerning is unemployment, faced by 20% of the working population. It is expected that, after the constitutional reform and presidential elections, the situation should return to normal,” he said.
“Tourism is returning little by little. The currency is appreciating, but there is still certain lethargy in the business sector, and lack of a clear economic policy for the country, but Tunisia is regaining the same importance it had prior to the revolution,” he finished off.
*Translated by Mark Ament
