São Paulo – The Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) hosted on Monday (21) an exchange of experiences between Brazilians and Saudis on the participation of women in business and in bilateral and multilateral relations between the countries. The institution organized a roundtable with female representatives from Brazilian business associations and executives from SABIC, a Saudi Arabia-based leading chemical company.
The Saudis are in Brazil to participate on Thursday (24) and Friday (25) in São Paulo in the B20 Summit, a group that brings together the private sector of the G20 member countries, of which Saudi Arabia and Brazil are part. SABIC is leading the Saudi delegation at the B20. During the meeting in the ABCC, SABIC representatives were introduced to the work of the institution’s women’s committee WAHI – Women Who Inspire, which organized the roundtable “Women, Diversity, and Inclusion.”
WAHI chairwoman Alessandra Frisso explained that the committee was created to empower and unite Brazilian and Arab female entrepreneurs and mentioned that platforms such as B20, BRICS, and the UN COP30 climate summit—the latter to be held in Brazil in 2025—can play major roles in advancing women’s inclusion and promoting diversity.
Frisso said WAHI is committed to promoting dialogue between Brazil and Saudi Arabia and shared the committee’s projects aimed at the Arab country. Plans include facilitating the visit of a Brazilian female delegation to Saudi Arabia in 2025, as well as welcoming a group of Saudi women to Brazil, in addition to promoting exchanges of knowledge, experiences, and opportunities among them.
The Saudis also learned about the role of Brazilian women in the BRICS Women’s Business Alliance (WBA), created by the bloc to foster cooperation among female business leaders. Among the new members of BRICS are Arab countries Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, as presented by Beatriz Guimarães, vice president of the BRICS WBA in Brazil and director of the Federation of Trade in Goods, Services and Tourism of the Federal District (Fecomércio-DF).
The vice chair of the National Committee for Women in Agriculture of the Brazilian Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock (CNA), rural producer Antonielly Rottoli, along with CNA’s International Relations advisor, Elena Castellani, spoke about the committee’s actions in support of women, especially in encouraging their leadership in agribusiness through training.
Two officials from industry group CNI spoke about the institution’s actions for the Brazilian business community. Michelle Queiroz, the institution’s business mechanisms sherpa, spoke on the work in the BRICS Business Council, while International Advisor Tatiana Farah Cauville mentioned that in addition to its work in multilateral mechanisms, the group develops efforts for bilateral relations, facilitating dialogues between private sectors in Brazil and other countries.
Present at the meeting, the CEO of SABIC, Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh, spoke about his country’s efforts for diversity and female participation. Brazilian-born Charlyne Braga, who works in compliance at SABIC, shared her testimony, saying she sees not only in Saudi Arabia but also at SABIC a commitment to creating space for women in the workforce. She gave examples of this from inside Sabic, including the presence of women in leadership positions. “When you see a woman in high-level positions in the organization, it’s truly very inspiring,” Braga told the other Brazilian women.
Arab-Brazilian Chamber
The meeting included the participation of ABCC Secretary-General and Vice President of International Relations Mohamad Orra Mourad, who provided an overview of the different areas of the institution’s work, including the current support for the Saudi delegation at the B20. He also highlighted the importance of the work conducted by the WAHI women’s committee and the presence of women among the institution’s staff. The meeting was led by ABCC Vice President of Communication and Marketing Silvia Antibas, who said the entity was available for collaboration among the different groups present.
Also participating from the ABCC were board member and WAHI member Claudia Yazigi, board member Renata Maron, and other staff members. Attending the meeting from Saudi Arabia were additional representatives from Sabic, including Samir Al-Abdrabbuh, who is also the CEO of the Saudi B20 Initiative, Fahad Al-Sherehy, Ali Al-Shamrani, Brian Powers, Eduardo Fujisawa, and Marcos Ruediger.
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Translated by Guilherme Miranda
