Randa Achmawi*
Cairo – Yesterday (30), on the first day of the 3rd meeting of high-level government officials from South America and the Arab region, held at the headquarters of the League of Arab States, in Cairo, a 15-member Brazilian delegation participated in a plenary meeting and sideline work carried out by three committees, aimed at studying partnership projects in the fields of economy, science and technology, and culture. In their suitcases, the Brazilian delegation members took several propositions.
Their main suggestions include an action plan for increasing economic cooperation. "Our plan is comprised of concrete actions designed to facilitate and boost economic and trade relations between Arab and South American countries, which we believe may yield concrete, positive results," said the follow-up manager for the Summit of South American – Arab Countries affairs at the Itamaraty (Brazilian foreign office), Ânuar Nahes.
According to Nahes, the proposed measures to be implemented in the Arab world include conferences about tourism in South America, road shows on investment opportunities in South America – in sectors such as energy and mining -, and training in foreign trade to Arab professionals interested in doing business with Brazil, to be provided by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber also contributed to elaborate the proposals.
Further measures include the negotiation of agreements to make it easier for businessmen to get visas, or to make them exempt, the signing of agreements for direct connection by air and sea between the two regions and the holding of bi-regional meetings, to be attended by authorities in charge of regulating the financial system and the capital market, and by representatives of financial institutions.
In the field of science and technology, the Brazilian delegation will present an internet portal turned to bi-regional cooperation, developed by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Brazilian Institute for Information on Science and Technology (IBICT) and the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC). "We want to include in our portal the names of scientists, researchers and institutions that are linked to the field," said Ricardo Brito of Embrapa.
According to him, Embrapa will also suggest that ongoing research projects that may interest Arab and South American countries be included in the site. One such project, in the field of water resource development for agriculture in semi-arid regions, is an international program including the basins of the Nile and São Francisco rivers, and basins in the Andes.
Culture
In the cultural field, according to Nahes, the Brazilian delegation will present the first book edited by the library of South America-Arab countries, a manuscript written by Iman Abdul Rahman Bin Abdullah Al Baghdadi in the 19th century, after his trip to Brazil, which lasted three years. The work was translated into Portuguese by Paulo Farah, a Professor at the University of São Paulo (USP).
Another cultural proposal is a DVD film festival, which should travel between the two regions. "We believe this is a practical and inexpensive way of having films circulate around the regions," Nahes said. During the meeting in Cairo, the Brazilians will also introduce the Web portal for the South America-Arab countries virtual library, and propose a meeting for directors of national libraries in both regions, to be held during the Book Biennial, in the southeastern Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
