São Paulo – Brazil’s vice president-elect, Hamilton Mourão, welcomed this Tuesday (18) at transitional government seat Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil (CCBB), in Brasília, the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce’s president Rubens Hannun, board chairman Walid Yazigi, International Relations vice president Osmar Chohfi, interim CEO Tamer Mansour and adviser Antonio Portinari.
The executives handed Mourão an Arab Chamber study on the growth potential of Brazilian-Arab relations, especially in trade and investments. The study shows, for instance, that exports from Brazil to Arab countries could amount to USD 20 billion in 2022 – the final year of the administration set to begin on January 1st, 2019. It also shows that bilateral business could create 300,000 jobs during that time.
The document outlines actions public and private players can take over the next four years to bring those goals to fruition. “The study shows that this is a very real and feasible possibility, that it would foster job creation very fast, and that Arab countries are keenly interested in it,” Hannun told ANBA.
On his Twitter account, Mourão posted a photo of the meeting and wrote: “I welcomed at the Transition Cabinet, in Brasília, delegates from the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, on which occasion we discussed trade and investment possibilities for Brazil in the 22 Arab countries represented by the organization.”
The meeting covered trade, investments and the building of a strategic Arab-Brazilian partnership in food security. The Arab Chamber executives also presented a specific study on the potential of agribusiness in Arab countries.
Generally speaking, Arab countries have food production deficits. They depend on imports, therefore they are looking to invest in overseas farming, livestock and agroindustry operations, in order to ensure that their population’s needs are met. “We want to be the main partners of Arabs in food security,” said Hannun.
The Chamber’s president also said Arab countries are interested in investing in agribusiness-related infrastructure projects to create outlets for production. “We talked at length about the future, about how to boost deals rapidly,” he said.
Hannun said Mourão was very welcoming, receptive and interested in the subjects brought forth by the organization.
The Chamber board members also commented on the fact that president-elect Jair Bolsonaro claimed to be considering moving the Embassy of Brazil in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, contrary to the United Nations’ and Brazil’s own historical position on the matter. “We are concerned with not disturbing relations [with Arab countries] with something that might prevent this [business] potential from being fulfilled,” explained Hannun.
Jerusalem is claimed by both Palestinians and Israelis as their capital. The UN has ruled that its member countries must not open embassies there until the location’s status has been defined. This has been the stance of the vast majority of nations, including all Arab ones and Brazil, thus far.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
