São Paulo – The Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce hosted this Thursday (15th) a meeting with South American diplomats to promote the participation of the region’s businessmen in the Business Forum set to be held together with the Summit of South American-Arab Countries (Aspa) on November 8th to 10th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The event gathered consuls and trade sector representatives from the consulates of Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Morocco. “The Arab League and the Itamaraty [Brazilian Foreign Ministry] delegated to the Arab Chamber the coordination of the South American side of the Business Forum”, said Rubens Hannun, the Chamber’s vice-president of Foreign Trade.
The Business Forum will be held on November 8th and 9th, while the summit is set to November 9th and 10th. On the first day of the event for the businessmen, there will be discussion panels with topics linked to exports and investment opportunities between the Arab and South American countries. The second day will be dedicated to business talks between the attendees.
“I emphasize that it is important for the South American countries to send significant delegations from their economic sectors. In the last summit, 450 businessmen were in attendance”, said Osmar Chohfi, vice-president of International Relations of the Arab Chamber.
Michel Alaby, the Arab Chamber’s CEO, delivered a presentation to the attendees, explaining the format of the event and the matters that will be covered. “The main topic is Logistics and Transportation between South American and Arab countries”, said the executive.
The forum will cover topics such as legislation and free movement between South American and Arab countries; the circulation of trade information between the two regions; investment opportunities in the industry, agriculture and energy sectors; tourism; financial services; and cooperation strategies.
Alaby reminded the diplomats that, among South American countries, those that sell the most to the Middle East and North Africa are Brazil and Argentina. “The other South American countries should make efforts to increase their exports [to the Arabs]”, he said.
The CEO pointed out that businessmen interested in participating in the event should make their pre-registration, since it takes some time to obtain visas to Saudi Arabia. The Arab Chamber will send the registration form to the South American diplomatic representations, which, in turn, will promote the forum among the business sector in their countries.
“It’s an important moment to leverage new business and to watch for opportunities that could come from the trade between South American and Arab countries”, said Alaby.
Trade relations
Oscar Estragó, consul general of Paraguay in São Paulo, said that Egypt is one of the main destinations for exports by his country in the Arab world, followed by Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. “Most of them import beef”, said the diplomat.
According to him, there’s great potential for the development of trade between Paraguay and the Arabs. “The future for us resides in that region, with those countries, among which Paraguay stands out for being a food producing country”, he said.
Alexis Fabara, director of Ecuador’s trade office in Brazil, explained that his country’s leading trade partner in the region is the United Arab Emirates. “We opened a trade office there three years ago and Ecuador’s exports [to the Emirates] have been increasing a lot from 2012 to 2015”, he said.
Egypt and Morocco are also among the main Arab importers of Ecuadorian products. “It’s a market that hasn’t been fully explored. The Arab countries have great potential, so we are positioning ourselves and creating strategies to be able to improve our market share over there”, he said.
The main products sold by Ecuador to the Arabs are fruits, especially bananas, in addition to shrimp and fish. The country is starting to export processed food to the region.
Eliane Elbaum, Uruguay’s consul, said that her country’s relations with the Arab nations are rather new and that she believes it’s important for them to continue to improve.
Currently, the main products exported by Uruguay to the Arabs are meat and seeds. Its largest buyers in the region are Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Egypt.
The diplomat emphasized the importance of the participation of her country’s business sector in the forum in Riyadh. “It’s very important to do new business. I believe there’s great potential since the relations haven’t reached their limit yet, they are beginning, so there are great opportunities for our business sector to close deals”, she assessed.
Businessmen interested in participating in the Business Forum in Riyadh must contact the Arab Chamber via the email secgeral@ccab.org.br. The deadline for registration is October 30th.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
