São Paulo – The CEO at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Michel Alaby, should meet on June 12th to 14th with representatives of the government and businessmen from Palestine, in Ramallah, West Bank. The visit is an invitation by the ambassador of the country to Brazil, Ibrahim Al-Zeben, for the Arab Brazilian Chamber to help the Palestinians discuss what local products may be included in the free trade agreement signed with the Mercosur in December 2011.
Alaby should have meetings at the ministries of Finance and Foreign Relations. He should also meet representatives of the Palestinian Union of Chambers of Commerce and Industry and with local businessmen. “We are going to aid them in the elaboration of a list of products to be negotiated in the Mercosur-Palestine agreement. We are also going to discuss the promotion of a seminar in Palestine,” said Alaby. The seminar should take place in Brazil in 2013 to present business opportunities in the region.
According to Alaby, the opportunity of participating in these talks with the Palestinians arose in March this year, during a meeting with ambassadors promoted at the Arab Brazilian Chamber. According to Zeben, Arab Brazilian Chamber participation is “essential to make the agreement come true”. “We already have trade with Brazil, but that is due to individual initiatives. Through negotiation with the Arab Brazilian Chamber, we want to open opportunities for trade exchange with Brazil, as part of the Mercosur,” he said.
Currently, exports from Palestine go to Israel and, from there, to the buyer country. With the free trade agreement with the Mercosur, products will be identified as having left Palestine. The agreement is still awaiting ratification by the congresses of the four members of the Mercosur: Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. The Mercosur has had a free trade agreement with Israel and with Egypt since 2010. Palestine has a similar agreement with the European Union.
Among the main Palestinian products are yellow granite, olive oil and religious handicraft. According to information disclosed by the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, from January to April this year, Brazil exported US$ 3.7 million in products to Palestine, mainly beef. In the same period in 2011, exports totalled US$ 499,900. From January to April this year, Brazil imported US$ 15,300 in limestone from the Palestinians.
*Translated by Mark Ament
