Cairo – The Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will cooperate to create new opportunities for Egyptian companies supported by the US program to export to Brazil. The topic was discussed during the weekend between the ABCC’s regional director in Cairo, Michael Gamal, and the chief of the USAID party in the Egyptian city, Rachid Benjelloun. USAID works in the Arab country to support small- and medium-sized enterprises.
The meeting featured the ABCC’s International & Governmental Relations in Cairo, Rania Mohamed Hagrass, and USAID Export advisor Mohamed Habib. In the meeting, Gamal gave an overview of the work of the ABCC and mentioned that the hike in Egyptian exports to Brazil led the institution to establish an office in Cairo, its second in the Arab world, following the one in Dubai.
Gamal explained that Egypt is the only Arab country to have a free trade agreement with Mercosur, which have contributed to boost Egyptian exports to Brazil since it came into force in 2017. Exports boomed and went over USD 500 million in 2021, from USD 146 million before the agreement.
Rania Hagrass said there is a huge diversity of Egyptian exports to Brazil, besides the tax exemption for a large number of products due to the Mercosur agreement. She highlighted the Brazilian market has over 212 million consumers and the Arab community in the country is 20 million people, which stresses the importance of this market to Egypt.
According to the executive, the presence of a large Arab community in Brazil drives up Egyptian exports of dates, olive oil, green olives, frozen strawberries and vegetables, as well as agricultural commodities like oranges and garlic. Gamal explained that other sectors have saw booming exports from Egypt to Brazil, including the chemical industry. The ABCC is working on a mission to Brazil of the chemical and glass industry.
USAID in Cairo
Benjelloun expressed interest in the Brazilian market due to the promising opportunities for Egyptian exporters, particularly small- and medium-sized enterprises. He stressed the need for organizing successive trade missions to Brazil for industries such as chemicals, packaging materials, foodstuffs, agricultural goods, glass, and home furnishing.
Gamal suggested the signature of a memorandum of understanding to kickstart the joint cooperation and coordination of the first trade mission of Egyptian-based small- and medium-sized enterprises to Brazil. It was agreed that the first workshop on the Brazilian market to Egyptian companies will be held in March.
Translated by Georgette Merkhan & Guilherme Miranda
