São Paulo – The Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and Egyptian officials and businessmen are discussing means for reactivation of the Brazil-Egypt Business Council and the promotion of a Brazilian delegation to Cairo, in September. The Arab Brazilian Chamber’s CEO, Michel Alaby, and the organisation’s Government Relations executive, Tamer Mansour, are in the Arab country to address these and other issues related to the strengthening of bilateral relations.
During the weekend, Alaby and Mansour met with businessman Ali Fahmi Tolba, Chairman of Delta Group, which brings together 14 companies, who should be appointed to the presidency on the Egyptian side. According to the Arab Chamber CEO, Tolba proposed that the group include representatives in the fertilizer, meat, agricultural product, textile, recycling, tourism, industrial training, telecommunications, steel and marble and granite sectors.
According to Alaby, the goal of the Egyptians is the expansion of trade, especially exports from the Arab country, greater Brazilian investment in Egypt and standardisation of business procedures like, for example, the rules for sale of beef, chicken and live cattle from Brazil. Furthermore, the Egyptians want to keep an open channel of communication with the Brazilian business community and to push for ratification of the Mercosur-Egypt free trade agreement, signed in 2010 by the parliaments of the countries of the South American bloc.
On Saturday, a dinner was held in honour of the Egyptian Business Development Association (EBDA).At the event, the topics discussed included the organisation of a Brazilian trade mission to Egypt in late September. The signing of an agreement reactivating the Council is expected to take place during the delegation’s visit.
The idea of holding a trade mission was launched during the visit of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi to Brazil, last month. On Sunday, Arab Chamber representatives attended a dinner with businessmen who accompanied Morsi on the trip.
Also on Sunday, Alaby and Mansour had a meeting with the Egyptian Minister of Investment, Ahmed Yehia. They spoke of Brazilian companies that have investments in Egypt, as is the case with bus body manufacturer Marcopolo, road equipment producer Randon and construction company Camargo Correa, and Egyptian companies with investments in Brazil, like Kapci, a maker of paint, and El Sewedy, of electrical cables.
On Sunday and Monday (17), the Arab Chamber executives attended a meeting with representatives of other chambers of commerce and of the League of Arab States, at the Arab multilateral organization’s headquarters, in Cairo. Topics discussed included closer cooperation between foreign chambers of commerce and the Economic Department at the League, in an attempt to expand the flow of trade and investment.
*Translated by Mark Ament
