São Paulo – The Foreign Affairs ministers of Brazil and Tunisia signed a cooperation agreement in the tourism sector this Friday (20), in Tunis, during a visit by Brazil’s Foreign Minister, Aloysio Nunes, to the Arab country. According to Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Itamaraty), the agreement stipulates information exchange and technical skills cooperation in the area, among other topics.
Nunes met with authorities, such as Tunisia’s president, Béji Caïd Essebi, prime minister, Youssef Chahed, president of the Assembly of People’s Representatives, Mohamed Ennaceur, and FM Khemaies Jhinaoui, with whom he signed the agreement (in the picture above, Nunes, on the left, and Jhinaoui).
The Export Promotion Center (CEPEX) also signed an agreement with the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (FIESP) for business contact facilitation, according to Itamaraty’s press office.
Aloysio Nunes discussed with Tunisian authorities the cooperation in areas such as social policies and agriculture. Other topics included the negotiation of an investment facilitation agreement between Brazil and Tunisia and the free trade agreement that the Arab country has been negotiating with Mercosur, the bloc of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Brazil is one of Tunisia’s food suppliers and exports to the country products such as sugar, soy and coffee. The trade balance between the two countries strongly favors Brazil, which exported USD 175.3 million worth of products to Tunisia in this year’s first six months.
On the other hand, Brazil imported from the North African country USD 13.2 million worth of products. It imported especially machinery, oils and chemical products, according to data from the Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services (MDIC), compiled by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce.
The Arab Chamber’s president, Rubens Hannun, is also in Tunisia, where a meeting of the Brazil-Tunisia Business Council took place, and where he will attend a dinner this Friday evening with the Brazilian FM.
After Tunisia, Aloysio Nunes will go in an official visit to another Arab country, Algeria. Brazil’s FM will meet his Algerian counterpart, Abdelkader Messahel on Monday (23).
Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
