Alexandre Rocha*
São Paulo – With the signing of a decree last week by Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, cooperation between Brazil and Syria in the tourism sector has been put in place. The treaty forecasts actions to increase the flow of visitors and reciprocal investment between both countries.
One of the measures to take the agreement off paper will be a visit to Brazil by a delegation of Syrian representatives and a trip to Syria by a delegation of Brazilian specialists. This was one of the themes of the treaty discussed during a recent meeting between the Syrian ambassador in Brazil, Ali Diab, and the minister of Tourism, Walfrido dos Mares Guia.
"The idea is to take these delegations to visit the tourist sites, to learn about the experiences of each country in the area and about policies for the sector," said the ambassador yesterday (10), to ANBA. The delegations should count on professionals in the area. The possibility of promoting exchange courses for tourism students is also being studied.
According to the spokesperson for international affairs at the Ministry of Tourism, João Solano Carneiro da Cunha, the embassy in Syria and the Brazilian government have already exchanged information about the sector in each of the countries.
Other measures that have already been discussed, according to him, are reciprocal participation in fairs and events connected to tourism and the establishment of a workgroup to accompany the execution of the agreement, including technicians and representatives in the public and private sectors. The treaty forecasts the creation of this group, and the exchange of information, students, professionals, journalists, publications and promotional material, and also presence at fairs.
"We also want to attract Brazilian investment to the area of tourism in Syria," stated Ali Diab. This is the second theme covered in the agreement. According to the ambassador, the sector is growing in his country. "Syria has great potential. The United Arab Emirates alone recently announced investment of US$ 3 billion in tourists enterprises in the country," stated the diplomat. As an example, he mentioned tourism of historic interest. "Syria is one of the cribs of civilization, with evidences dating back to almost 5,000 years b.C.," he said.
Another measure that was discussed between Ali Diab and Mares Guia was the simplification of visa issue This subject, however, must be worked on by the Ministries of Foreign Relations of each country.
According to the ambassador, around 5,000 Brazilians visit Syria every year. He added that the number of Syrians coming to Brazil is still smaller. "The intention behind the agreement is to increase this flow," he said. "The promotion of destinations always results in greater flow," added Cunha. It is estimated that a large part of the Brazilians travelling to the Arab countries do so for personal reasons, as there is a large community of Syrian origin in Brazil.
The agreement was signed in December 2003, when president Lula visited the Arab country. In Brazil, it was approved by the National Congress in July and was put in place after the signing of the decree by the Brazilian president last week.
*Translated by Mark Ament
