São Paulo – The CEO at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Michel Alaby, gave a talk on Monday (4) at the Expodireto Cotrijal, an agricultural fair in the city of Não-Me-Toque, Rio Grande do Sul. He spoke about the Arab countries and about trade between Brazil and the region.
“I spoke about the potential for Brazilian exports, mainly in the area of food; grain, protein and other food products,” said Alaby. “I also said that the Arab countries are great producers of fertilizers, which Brazil imports,” he added.
The audience of around 50 people included machinery and agricultural product exporters and representatives of organisations in the area. Alaby presented the Arab Brazilian Chamber’s work, how it can help Brazilian companies interested in doing business with the Arabs and also covered the trade promotion activities to be developed by the organisation this year.
“There were many questions, mainly about the countries of the Gulf, how to negotiate with them,” said the director general. The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) imported around 90% of their food needs. The bloc includes Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Oman.
The ambassador of Palestine, Ibrahim Alzeben, also participated and spoke about agriculture in his country. The diplomat is the dean of the Arab Ambassador’s Council in Brazil.
This is the Chamber’s first participation in the Cotrijal and it is taking place at the invitation of the organizers of the event. Apart from Alaby, two other Chamber employees are at the fair, to address the doubts regarding the Arab market. They are also providing assistance to three businessmen from Tunisia who are at the fair. On Tuesday, a representative of a food distributor from the Emirates should also arrive. The event ends on Friday (8).
*Translated by Mark Ament
