São Paulo – This Wednesday (18th) in Brasília, the Brazilian minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Fernando Pimentel, received the deputy prime minister of Libya, Omar Abdelkarim. The two discussed a Brazilian business mission to the Arab country. The Libyan also met with the minister of Mines and Energy, Edison Lobão, to whom he expressed his interest in Brazilian companies’ continuing to operate in his country.
According to the Development Ministry’s press office, the mission proposal was made by Pimentel, in response to Abdelkarim’s willingness to establish partnerships and raise funds for the reconstruction of Libya. The mission should take place in the second half of the year, and will aim to spot investment and business opportunities for Brazilian companies.
“We want aid from Brazil to develop our economy,” said the Libyan deputy prime minister according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Development. “During the dictatorship period there was no investment in energy, for instance. At 1,700 kilometres long, our coast also boasts great potential for tourism and fisheries,” he said.
Pimentel also expressed willingness to increase cooperation. “Infrastructure works aside, we must uncover opportunities for enterprises in other sectors to establish themselves in Libya,” said Pimentel. The two also discussed the possibility of exchange between university students and oil and gas researchers.
Abdelkarim is in Brazil to attend the Open Government Partnership summit, under which he met with the Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff last Tuesday (17th) and said Libya intends to establish closer ties with the West. To Lobão, he said he wants Brazilian companies such as Petrobras to go on operating in Libya after the elections, which are scheduled for June. Abdelkarim also invited the minister to pay a visit to his country, which Lobão accepted, according to the press office of the Ministry of Mines and Energy.
Brazilian construction companies already operate in Libya, and the Arab country has capital invested in Brazil. Last year, trade between Brazil and Libya reached US$ 102 million, of which US$ 101 million concerned Brazilian exports. In the first quarter this year, Brazil has exported US$ 88 million to Libya, mostly in foodstuffs.
*Tradução de Gabriel Pomerancblum
