São Paulo – A possible visit by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to Saudi Arabia in the first half of next year was discussed this Thursday (25) at a meeting between the minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia, Prince Faisal Bin Farhan Al Saud, and the Brazilian chancellor, Carlos França. Al Saud is visiting Brazil and met with França. Pictured above, Al Saud arriving at the Itamaraty Palace.
“We are already thinking about high-level contacts next year, with the prospect of a visit by President Jair Bolsonaro, if the plans for a new visit to the Middle East in the first half of the year materialize,” said França at a press conference with the presence of Al Saud, after the two met. França also reiterated Bolsonaro’s invitation for Saudi prince Mohammed Bin Salman to visit Brazil in 2022.
At a press conference, Al Saud stated relations between Brazil and Saudi Arabia had significantly advanced after president Bolsonaro’s visit to his country in 2019. Later that year, Bolsonaro toured the Middle East, traveling to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. This month, he was in the UAE, Bahrain, and Qatar.
Defense, environment, and world peace were the main subjects on the agenda of the Saudi minister’s meetings at the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “We agreed to maintain a fluid dialogue with the countries of the region in the 2022/2023 biennium when Brazil will occupy a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council(UNSC),” reported França. The Saudi minister congratulated Brazil for its seat on the UNSC and stated his country wants to cooperate and work closely with Brazil on this matter.
Defense, environment
França told reporters Brazil proposed to the Saudis an investment fund for the joint development of defense products. “Brazil, which is a solid and very technological supplier in this area, currently exports to 132 countries, a partnership with Saudi Arabia could also grant access to these 132 markets,” he said, noting in conversations with the minister there was talk on bringing closer together the defense, science, technology and innovation sectors of the two countries.
The environmental plan was also discussed. “We also discussed our collective responsibility to protect the environment,” the Saudi minister told reporters. As well as at the meeting with the Brazilian foreign minister, Al Saud spoke at the press conference about the Green Initiative project, which aims to plant 50 billion trees in the Middle East, 10 billion in Saudi Arabia.
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The Saudi minister reinforced his country’s desire for a closer relationship with Brazil and to explore opportunities, including investments, in sectors such as food security and cooperation in electrical power, defense, and tourism. During Bolsonaro’s visit to Saudi Arabia two years ago, the crown prince announced Brazil would receive USD 10 billion in Saudi investments, a piece of information Al Saud recalled.
França thanked the Saudi minister for the way Bolsonaro was received in Saudi Arabia in 2019 and said at Expo 2020 Dubai he visited the Saudi pavilion, where he had an immersion in the country’s “touristic wonders.” Brazil and Saudi Arabia have a trade balance worth over USD 3 billion a year. Brazil’s main exports to the Saudis are poultry, sugar, maize, soy, and beef; the top imports are oil and fertilizers.
Accompanied França and Al Saud at the press conference the Brazilian ministers of Mines and Energy, Bento Albuquerque; and Tourism, Gilson Machado Neto; the Special Secretary for Strategic Affairs, Flávio Augusto Viana Rocha; Special Secretary for the Investment Partnership Program, Martha Seillier; Brazilian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Marcelo Della Nina; and the Saudi Arabian ambassador to Brazil, Ali Abdullah Bahittam.
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
