Marina Sarruf, special envoy*
Kuwait City – The Federation of Industries of the State of Santa Catarina (Fiesc) and the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) signed a cooperation agreement yesterday (28) at the headquarters of the Arab organization. The document is aimed at bringing businessmen from Brazil and Kuwait closer to each other. A trade delegation of Santa Catarina-based construction industry representatives arrived in the Arab country on Friday (27), seeking business opportunities. The trip was organized by Fiesc and by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce.
“We believe this delegation is going to help introduce Brazilian products into Kuwait and neighboring countries,” claimed the director of the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Abdul Wahab M. Al-Wazzan. According to Al-Wazzan, Kuwait is a small country, but has a large business volume. “We do a lot of re-exports to Iraq. The country is rebuilding itself, thus Kuwait imports large amounts of raw material,” said Al-Wazzan.
According to the president of Fiesc, Alcantaro Corrêa, the Santa Catarina businessmen were very well received. “I reckon business is going to take place faster than I expected,” he said. According to the Secretary General of the Arab Chamber, Michel Alaby, the implementation of the agreement signed by the two organizations will be supervised by the Chamber. “We are going to manage the flow of trade delegations between both regions and provide all the necessary support,” Alaby stated.
The Brazilian ambassador in Kuwait, Mario Graça Roiter, who was also present at the meeting, called attention to the fact that Brazilian exports to Kuwait increased from US$ 50 million in 2002 to nearly US$ 200 million last years. “There is still a lot that can be done. It depends on the aggressiveness and competitiveness of Brazilian businessmen,” Roiter claimed. He said one quarter of all Brazilian exports to Kuwait consist of chicken exported by Sadia company.
Also present at the headquarters of the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry were the marketing vice president of the Arab Chamber, Rubens Hannun, Fiesc vice presidents Gilberto Seleme and Guido José Búrigo, the industry relations director of Fiesc, Henry Quaresma, and Kuwaiti and Brazilian businessmen.
Business roundtables
Also yesterday, in the afternoon, the Santa Catarina businessmen engaged in business roundtables at Hotel JW Marriott with about 30 businessmen from Kuwait. “This first day of business was very positive, judging by the variety of consultations I had,” claimed Celso Diamante, president of Stone Control, a company that sells marble, granite and ceramics. Diamante made 12 contacts and was surprised by the quality of the meetings. “I spoke to businessmen who have large construction projects going on, such as low-income housing and hospitals,” he said, ethusiastically.
One of Diamante’s contacts was the general manager of the Kifal logistics company, Shafeek Rahman, who also represents the trading company Satek. “We do not import from Brazil yet, so we came here to see what Brazilian companies have to offer,” he said. Satek already imports marble from Turkey, exporting it to Iraq, Dubai and Egypt. “We are also interested in Brazilian chicken,” Rahman claimed. Another Kuwaiti businessman in the rounds was the general director of the ALC International Group, a trading and consulting company, Mohammed Azam Choudhry. “I help foreign civil construction companies establish themselves in the country,” he claimed.
Kuwait Towers
On Saturday, the Brazilian delegation also visited one of the biggest tourist attractions in the country, the Kuwait Towers, comprised of three towers, the tallest of which is 180 metres tall, has 40 floors, and has a restaurant and café. “The towers are really exotic. The constructions here are quite exotic,” said the president of the State Chamber of the Construction Industry of Santa Catarina (CEIC), José Antônio Vieira. The whole city can be seen from the top of the tower.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum