São Paulo – Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce president Salim Taufic Schahin should be among those honoured by the State Parliamentary Council of Communities of Foreign Cultures and Roots (Conscre), next Tuesday (25), at the Legislative Assembly of the state of São Paulo.
According to the vice president at the Conscre, an organisation established by the Legislative Assembly, Sérgio Serber, apart from honouring prominent personalities, the ceremony is also aimed at integration of communities of different origins. Each one chooses a person to be honoured.
"Conscre was established so that communities could interact, show how they live well here," said Serber, who is a member of the Jewish colony. The Council makes it possible for people from different origins to make contact with other cultures and, in the case of the event on Tuesday, for them to learn who are the main leaders of other groups.
Serber added that, apart from the honours, the event should include sampling of typical foods and dance presentations from the countries of origin of the communities.
Schahin was recommended by the representative of the Arab community at the organisation, Rezkalla Tuma. According to Tuma, the choice was made based on the "active participation" that Schahin has in events of the colony. Apart from presiding the Arab Brazilian Chamber, he is the president of the Advisory Council of the Syrian Pro-Infancy Home, an organisation that assists impoverished children, and also a member of the Board of Governors of the Syrian-Lebanese Hospital (HSL).
"This year, he has been prominent, mainly due to his work in expansion of economic relations with the Arab countries. Due to his prominent position, nothing is fairer than recommending him to permanent presence in the annals of the Assembly," said Tuma.
The representative of the Arab community at the Conscre added that Schahin comes form a traditional family that has always had important participation in institutions connected to the colony, including sports clubs. "And, as a person, he showed himself as a businessman aligned with social balance," he pointed out.
Schahin, alongside his brother, Milton, owns Schahin Group, which operates in the engineering, real estate development, telecommunications, oil and gas, energy and finance sectors. He is also a member of the Advisory Council at Zerbini Foundation, connected to the Heart Institute of the Hospital of Clinics of São Paulo, and vice president of the Brazilian Association of Infrastructure and Basic Industries (Abdib).
Other members honoured in the evening will be book collector and businessman José Mindlin, a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters (ABL), recommended by the Jewish community, the archbishop of the Apostolic Church of Armenia, Datev Karibian, Fernando Ou, president of the Chinese Cultural Association for Brazil, Stylianos Antoine Nikiforos, president of the Federation of Hellenic Communities in Brazil, the consul general of Italy in São Paulo, Marco Marsilli, as well as honorary professor Kokei Uehara, of the Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo (USP), who is of Japanese origin, professor Aleksandrs Spers, of the School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Husbandry at USP, from the Moldavian colony, artist Maria dos Anjos, of the Portuguese community, lawyer Ruth Myrian Camacho Kadluba, recommended by the Paraguayan, Peruvian and Bolivian communities, and the executive director at Núcleo Inox, Arturo Chao Maceiras, of the Spanish community.
Service
Ceremony Honouring Community Members
Tuesday, August 25th, 7:15 pm, at the Legislative Assembly of the State of São Paulo
Av. Pedro Álvares Cabral, 201, Ibirapuera, São Paulo, SP
Tel.: (+55 11) 3886-6280
Fax: (+55 11) 3889-8666
E-mail: conscre@yahoo.com and cerimonial@al.sp.gov.br
Site: www.al.sp.gov.br
*Translated by Mark Ament
