São Paulo – At a meeting with ambassadors of the Arab countries at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, the organisation’s president, Salim Taufic Schahin, suggested on Tuesday (27) the establishment of a bilateral meeting agenda with representatives of the 22 Arab countries.
Salim recalled that the Arab Brazilian Chamber has directors who may help the countries of the Middle East and North Africa to strengthen their diplomatic and trade relations with Brazil. “I am sure that there is a common objective with the government of Brazil, but I know that you have bilateral objectives with Brazil. So we must have an agenda to work on and see the evolution in this route,” he said.
To the dean of the council of Arab ambassadors in Brazil, the Jordanian Ramez Goussous, the promotion of bilateral meetings could bring benefits to the Arab countries and Brazil. "It is good as it improves our relations and provides an agenda of specific interests,” he said. He added that Jordan has already had this experience in other occasions and that they brought "excellent" results to the country.
During the meeting, the CEO at the Arab Brazilian Chamber, Michel Alaby, presented the organisation’s achievements in the first quarter of the year and showed what should take place in coming months. The Arab Brazilian Chamber participated in a multi-sectorial fair in Khartoum, Sudan, in January, the delegation with the minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Fernando Pimentel, to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the Emirates, in February, the promotion of a Buyer Project with businessmen in the building sector, in Brazil, in March, as well as participation in the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the General Union of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture for Arab Countries, promoted in Lebanon, and the official opening of the Arab-Colombian Chamber of Commerce.
Among the activities for coming months is a visit by the ambassadors to Camaçari petrochemical hub, in Bahia, participation in building sector fair Project Lebanon, in agricultural product fair Djazagro, in Algiers, and creation of a postage stamp for celebration of the organisation’s 60th anniversary, also in 2012. Starting on April 1st, according to Alaby, the Chamber will start issuing certificates of origin in French, to supply the French-speaking Arab countries.
During the meeting, the Arab ambassadors also made suggestions. Goussous called for Brazil to promote medical meetings in the Arab world to increase exchange in this area. A doctor at the Syrian-Lebanese hospital and a director at the Arab Brazilian Chamber, Riad Yunes said that there should be regional medical meetings between Brazilians and Arabs this year. The ambassador of Palestine, Ibrahin Al-Zeben, suggested that Brazilian businessmen and directors at the Arab Brazilian Chamber should meet with authorities of Palestine to develop trade relations through the partnership that the Palestinians have with the Mercosur.
Schahin asked the ambassadors to recommend to their governments support for the promotion of the next meeting of the General Union of Chambers, scheduled for next year, to take place in Brazil. "I formally placed this order in Lebanon and now I call on you to help bring this meeting to São Paulo,” he said.
*Translated by Mark Ament
