São Paulo – The Brazilian minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, and the governor of the state of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas, met with Arab heads from the Gulf region during the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, to close this Friday (20).
Haddad met with the Saudi Arabian investment minister, Khalid Al-Falih, on Tuesday (17). The Brazilian minister said Saudi Arabia is already a partner country of Brazilian companies and banks. Regarding the meeting, he told the press about Saudi interest in investing in Brazil, primarily in public-private partnerships and concessions.
“They have investment funds and are aware of all the public notices for partnerships the Brazilian federal government, states, and municipalities will launch in the upcoming months. This is good because a significant volume of assets is available for investment,” reckoned Haddad.
Representing Brazil alongside the Environment and Climate Change minister, Marina Silva, Haddad participated in forum panels and an intense schedule of meetings throughout the week. Among the main topics addressed by the minister in Davos, the importance of Brazil’s economic upturn, attracting investment to the country, possibilities for reindustrialization, fiscal adjustment, and balance of accounts stood out.
The governor of São Paulo state, Tarcísio de Freitas, met with the CEO of the sovereign wealth fund of the Qatar Investment Authority, Mansoor Ebrahim Al-Mahmoud, on Monday (16). According to the governor’s press office, investors were interested in learning more about assets in São Paulo. The projects portfolio in São Paulo presented at Davos comprises around BRL 70 billion (about USD 13.67 billion at the current rate) in investment opportunities.
On Tuesday (17), Tarcísio met with the minister of Industry and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia, Bandar Alkorayef. “Our infrastructure investment portfolio has been appraised with great interest. The minister showed a preference for the auto industry, which is very solid in our state,” said the governor in a statement.
Tarcísio de Freitas also met, on Wednesday (18), with the Saudi investment minister, Khalid Al-Falih, and the president and CEO of the Emirati logistics multinational, DP World, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem. Innovations for the port of Santos were one of the topics of the talks with Sulayem. They discussed a possible implementation of the Port Community System (PCS) in Santos, which could be the first in the country. PCS is an electronic platform to gather and integrate data and systems of maritime trade parties. According to the governor, the platform installation could generate billion-dollar-worth efficiency gains every year.
“Our mission in Davos is to present all of São Paulo’s potential: Sustainable development, investment attraction, and opportunities for private sector partnerships. Bringing new business to the state of São Paulo means creating jobs, income, quality of life, and helping Brazil grow,” said the governor.
Tarcísio was accompanied by the secretary of International Business, Lucas Ferraz; chief secretary of the Civil House, Arthur Lima; and secretary of Communications of the state of São Paulo, Lais Vita. This was his first international trip as state governor.
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
