São Paulo – Brazil and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states will have their first foreign ministers meeting in September. The invitation to participate in the encounter in Doha, Qatar, was announced at a press conference by GCC secretary-general Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi and accepted by Brazilian foreign affairs minister Mauro Vieira. On Wednesday (26) they met in the headquarters of Brazil’s Foreign Affairs Ministry in Brasília to hold talks on Brazil-GCC bilateral relations and the pursuit of peace and stability in the Middle East.
According to information from Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vieira and AlBudaiwi also urged a “comprehensive” ceasefire that end the conflict in the Gaza Strip.
GCC is formed by Arab Gulf countries Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. According to the ministry, Brazil’s trade with them reached over USD 16 billion last year, with Brazil exporting USD 9.3 billion and importing USD 6.7 billion.
At the end of the meeting, Vieira and AlBudaiwi made a speech followed by a quick press conference. Vieira pointed out that since the start of his third term in 2023, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has striven to bring Brazil closer to GCC states. He added that Brazil-GCC trade is complementary but could be further broadened and diversified away from commodities.
GCC secretary-general was honored at dinner
Before the meeting, AlBudaiwi participated in a dinner offered in his honor in the Embassy of Kuwait on Tuesday (25)’s night. According to Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) secretary-general & CEO Tamer Mansour, the meeting featured agrarian development and family agriculture minister Paulo Teixeira, congresspeople, and Arab ambassadors to Brasília.
“It’s another milestone in Brazil’s relations with the Arab world, particularly the GCC, that makes it possible to widen trade relations and exchanges with the Arab countries,” said Mansour, who attended the event alongside ABCC international relations vice president Mohamad Mourad, the ministry’s secretary for Africa and the Middle East Carlos Sérgio Sobral Duarte, businesspeople, and Brazilian officials.
Before the dinner, AlBudaiwi was welcomed at a lunch held by Qatar’s ambassador to Brasília, Ahmad bin Mohammed Al Shebani.
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Qatari ambassador honors GCC’s secretary-general
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
