São Paulo – The Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce paid tribute to former president Marcelo Sallum on Monday evening (15), in a ceremony after the weekly board of directors meeting. The Chamber unveiled Sallum’s portrait in the gallery of former presidents. “We’re benefiting from many of the things that Marcelo left us,” said the Arab Chamber’s current president, Rubens Hannun, on his predecessor.
As examples, he mentioned the development of the digital export certification that began to be implemented after agreements signed by the Chamber with the Arab countries, and the research on transportation and logistics involving Brazil and the Arab world that guides the organization’s activities in these sectors, and the purchase of a new headquarters.
“It’s necessary to underscore that where we are, this headquarters, owes greatly to Marcelo’s boldness, his commitment to making it work,” said Hannun. The new office was purchased and its renovation started during Sallum’s term, but it was officially opened in Hannun’s term, in April of last year.
“I’m very happy to see my portrait hanging alongside other former presidents, people that I have a lot of respect for, friends,“ said Sallum to ANBA. And some of these former presidents attended the tribute, such as Walid Yazigi, current president of the Arab Chamber’s Management Council, Salim Schahin and Antonio Sarkis Jr., plus the organization’s directors.
“I hope to see the portraits of future presidents taking up all the walls of the boardroom, and that they could pass on to their board of directors the same spirit of respect, tenderness and friendship that I have learned from the previous presidents,” added Sallum.
The painting was unveiled by Yazigi and his wife, Arlete (pictured above). Sallum recalled that it was Yazigi himself who asked him to join the Arab Chamber’s Management Council 20 years ago. The portrait was painted by visual artist Marcus Cláudio de Caldas, from Vinhedo, 81 km from São Paulo, based on photos of Sallum.
“At the time, he told me that I would only need to attend one or two meetings per year (laughs), but, over time, I found out that he gave me the opportunity to get to know the Arab Chamber and people that are my friends for life,” said the former president. “Because of everything that we lovingly do, with people we like, we don’t notice time going by. It doesn’t feel like it was 20 years ago [that I had my first contact with the Arab Chamber],” he said. Sallum was president for two two-year terms, from 2013 to 2016.
Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
