São Paulo – The Council of Arab Ambassadors to Brazil is going to promote a visit to the state of Rio Grande do Sul this week. Among other activities, the 14 diplomats in the group should attend a seminar on business opportunities on Wednesday (18th) at the Federation of Industries of the State of Rio Grande do Sul (Fiergs), in the capital Porto Alegre, with support from the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce.
“The goal is to increase bilateral relations between Rio Grande do Sul and the Arab countries, considering that the state is among the top exporters of agricultural and animal origin products in Brazil,“ said the vice dean of the Council and Jordanian ambassador, Ramez Goussous.
He highlighted that last year, bilateral trade between the state and the Arab countries reached almost US$ 2.6 billion, a figure equivalent to 13% of all commercial transactions between Brazil and the Middle East and North Africa region.
The Arab Brazilian Chamber CEO, Michel Alaby, is going to give a talk at the seminar. “I am going to discuss the Arab countries, their characteristics and the export and import opportunities,” said the executive.
According to the coordinator of the Fiergs’ International Business Centre (CIN, in the Portuguese acronym), Kurt Ziegler, the target audience of the event is representatives of industries interested in entering the Arab market.
Aside from the seminar, the diplomats will watch a presentation on Marcopolo, a bus body manufacturing company based in Rio Grande do Sul that owns a unit in Egypt, and attend meetings with the state governor, Tarso Genro, and the mayor of Porto Alegre, José Fortunati.
Goussous underscored that despite the importance of trade, the visit will also be meant to encourage cooperation in different areas.
Service
Seminar “Business Opportunities between Rio Grande do Sul and the Arab countries”
Date: May 18th, 2011
Time: from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm
Place: Fiergs Event Centre, Compet Space, Av. Assis Brasil, 8787, Porto Alegre
Enrolment and information
CIN/Fiergs
Tel.: (+55 51) 3347-8675
E-mail: cin@fiergs.org.br
Site: www.cinrs.org.br
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
