São Paulo – At a meeting with the Syrian minister of Health, Rida Saeed, representatives of Brazilian medical and pharmaceutical companies requested for public tenders in the Arab country to be opened to the participation of companies based in Brazil. Presently, only companies from the United States and Europe are allowed to take part in public tenders in the sector in Syria.
The request was made on the 18th this month during a meeting held in the sidelines of Healthcare, the leading Middle Eastern fair for healthcare industry products. The Brazilian suggestion was acknowledged by an advisor to the minister.
Also attending the meeting were the Brazilian ambassador to Syria, Edgar Casciano, the secretary general of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Michel Alaby, and other Brazilian embassy representatives.
“The ambassador mentioned that we were attending Healtchare for the first time, and the minister replied that he had visited the Brazilian stand and ascertained that the quality and pricing were competitive,” Alaby told ANBA.
Hospitals
The Brazilian businessmen also visited the Al Salam Hospital and the Al Assad University Hospital, in Damascus, where they discussed their products with the institutions’ boards of directors.
“We also presented material about the Syrian-Lebanese Hospital [in the city of São Paulo] and talked about its excellence in Brazil and the Americas. They showed interest in establishing a partnership with the hospital in order to use techniques such as video-assisted surgery, remote surgery monitoring, and training for doctors,” said Alaby regarding the visit to the Al Salam Hospital.
The group also visited the association of Syrian doctors, where he received a request for a joint congress to be held with Brazilian doctors of Syrian and Lebanese origin.
"The congress would tackle several subjects, mostly in the field of paediatric heart surgery, in which Brazil has vast experience, mainly due to the progress made in the field by Dr. Adib Jatene, director-general of Hospital do Coração (Heart Hospital),” claimed Alaby.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
