São Paulo – The Arab League’s assistant secretary-general, Kamal Hassan Ali, has said, during his participation at the Brazil-Arab Countries Economic Forum, that Arab countries wish to increase trade with Brazil. The event, organized by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, is taking place this Monday (02) at Hotel Unique in São Paulo.
Ali mentioned that, last year, trade between Brazil and Arabs yielded USD 20 billion. The secretary said that Brazil has always maintained good political and diplomatic relations with the Arabs. “Brazil always supported the Arab causes, and we established, as our major goal, to increase trade and investments between Brazil and the Arab countries, plus improve maritime logistics between the countries for us to be able to generate better results to everyone involved,” he said.
Palestine’s ambassador and the dean of the Council of Arab Ambassadors in Brazil, Ibrahim Alzeben, said that he expects to leave the forum with “two-way tangible results for the improvement of economy, trade, tourism and culture of all of the countries involved.”
Alzeben underscored the importance of the Arab community in Brazil, mentioning that it is formed by fifteen million Arabs and descendants, mainly of Syrian and Lebanese origins, and that the Arab Chamber, the event’s organizer, is the main bridge between Brazil and the Arab countries.
“We want to strengthen Tunisia’s trade relations with Brazil,” added Tunisia’s deputy minister of Foreign Affairs, Hatem Ferjani. He said that Brazil is South America’s most important market and that Tunisia is negotiating a free trade agreement with Mercosur.
The secretary of Mines and Energy of São Paulo state, João Carlos de Souza Meirelles, also reinforced the historical ties uniting Arab and Brazilians. “We have a deep connection, so much so that today we have a president and a governor (São Paulo) of Arab descent,” he said.
Meirelles said that, currently, 60.8% of all the energy generated in São Paulo state comes from renewable sources and that halal slaughter has become official in the state. “A joint investment for us to be able to extend relations,” he said.
Santiago Mourão, the undersecretary of international cooperation of Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Itamaraty), said that the ministry will hold a meeting with all the Arab embassies in the year’s first half. According to him, Brazil has the world’s largest Arab diaspora, and the government forecasts an increase of 18% in exports to North Africa and the Middle East this year, thanks to halal certification – meats accounts for most of exports to the region – and to the exports promotion programs of Itamaraty and the Brazilian Trade and Investments Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil).
Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
