São Paulo – Brazilian airports and ports are joining the World Logistics Passport (WLP), an initiative by the government of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The WLP intends to expand commercial opportunities between emerging markets (South-South) and facilitate the access of Brazilian products to markets in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. So far, the Viracopos International Airport (pictured above) in Campinas (State of São Paulo) and the DP World terminal in the Port of Santos (São Paulo) have joined. DP World Santos is a company of the DP World Group (Dubai Ports World).
Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro tweeted about the initiative this Wednesday (12). “I welcome the participation of Brazilian airports and ports in the World Logistics Passport, an initiative by the United Arab Emirates that will expand commercial opportunities between emerging markets and facilitate the access of our products to the markets of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.”
On Thursday (13), the emir of Dubai, prime minister and vice president of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, tweeted in response to the Brazilian president. “We welcome Brazil – one of the most important economies in the world – joining the Logistics Passport initiative led by Dubai to build a logistics network for transporting goods and products worldwide. We seek to connect the east of the world with the west, north, and south, and today we have partners from Indonesia and India in the east, and from Brazil and Colombia in the west,” wrote Al Maktoum.
According to the head of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce office in São Paulo, João Paulo Paixão, the World Logistics Passport is a government program in the UAE led by Dubai and by several entities that are sponsoring the initiative, among them, the Dubai Chamber.
“The idea is to build a rewards program, just like airlines have, so that the main players in emerging markets use South-South routes to make their goods arrive mainly in Asia, or to bring them from Asia, certainly using Dubai as the integrating hub between these different ports and airports around the world,” Paixão told ANBA.
According to the businessman, the WLP selected hubs in a few countries and Brazil was one of them. “And particularly for Viracopos Airport and DP World’s operation in Santos we built this link with them and we are already having some meetings with the main players to get companies to join this program, so that they can get advantages in it, from the perspective of lower costs and faster cargo clearance,” he explained.
The companies enrolled in the program need to prove that they have increased the trade flow for the route year by year, and starting from that information, they will be fitted into categories like Gold, Silver, and Platinum, just as in rewards programs for airline passengers. “And as they progress in these categories, they will have more benefits from the standpoint of costs and timeframes for exports and imports,” said Paixão.
The initial focus of the initiative in Brazil was the airline industry, according to Paixão. Brazil’s means of cargo transportation will be connected to a network that will involve other nations, including Uruguay and Colombia (South America), Ghana (Africa), and some countries in Asia.
“We are hoping that there will be an agreement between the governments to provide legal security for this program and we are making arrangements with the UAE Embassy in Brasília to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the federal government and entities from the UAE,” finished Paixão.
According to information released by Viracopos Airport, more than 11 countries are in the program, including India, South Africa, Indonesia, the UAE, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Uruguay, Senegal, Kazakhstan, and others. In addition, multinational corporations, including UPS, Pfizer, Sony, Johnson & Johnson, and LG are involved with the WLP as well. WLP partners, such as DP World and Emirates SkyCargo, will be able to play an important role in the Brazilian advancements in trade with the rest of the world.
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
