São Paulo – Boosting trade ties between Brazil and the United Arab Emirates was the main topic discussed at the meeting between the Brazilian vice president, Michel Temer, and the Emirati prime minister and vice president Mohamed Bin Rashid al Maktoum, held this Tuesday (12th) in Dubai. During the trip, Temer also convened with a delegation of 30 Brazilian business executives and with Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, heir prince of Abu Dhabi, the emirate that is also the country’s capital. In a press statement, the vice-presidency of Brazil informed that the prince expressed his interest in investing in major infrastructure projects in Brazil, and said he plans on sending a delegation to the country in early 2014 to assess potential investment opportunities.
According to the Brazilian ambassador to the Emirates, João de Mendonça Lima Neto, the main purpose of Temer’s visit was to discuss increasing commercial ties. At the meeting with Maktoum, who is both the Emirati prime minister and emir of Dubai, Temer delivered a letter from Brazil’s president Dilma Rousseff in which she invites him to visit Brazil in April 2014.
According to the diplomat, at the meeting he had with Nahyan, on Monday (11th), Temer said Brazil ascribes great importance to bilateral relations with different countries, and to multilateral partnerships. “We have established a new landmark in relations between our countries. Temer’s meetings in the Emirates were intended to establish a dialogue that will lead to increased bilateral trade, and this goal has been achieved,” Lima said.
The ambassador added that Temer and Maktoum agreed that one of the avenues to increasing trade and the flow of people between the two countries is to increase air routes. Australia was mentioned as a case in point.
“Ten years ago, Australia had two flights to the United Arab Emirates and now it has 130,” said the ambassador, referring to the issues discussed at the meeting. There are two daily flights from Brazil to Dubai, leaving from São Paulo and from Rio de Janeiro, and one daily flight to Abu Dhabi, leaving from São Paulo, as well as three weekly cargo flights between the Viracopos Airport, in Campinas, and Dubai.
Commercial ties between Brazil and the Emirates have increased nearly five-fold since the former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva visited the country, in 2003. In that year, Brazilian exports to the Emirates amounted to US$ 551.3 million and imports stood at US$ 18.7 million. In 2012, Brazil shipped the equivalent of US$ 2.45 billion to the Emirates and imported US$ 309.6 million.
Temer’s trip was considered by the Brazilian Foreign Office as Brazil’s highest level visit to the Emirates since 2003. From then on, however, several Brazilian government officials have travelled to the Arab country. According to the Foreign Office, 25 ministers and 14 governors have been to the country since that year.
Businessmen
In his trip, which started on Sunday (10th) and ended on Tuesday (12th), Temer also met with Brazilian businessmen and visited the construction site of a plant owned by the company Brasil Foods, which should start producing battered items, hamburgers, processed foods, pizzas and marinated items in the first half of 2014 in Abu Dhabi.
The businessmen who met with Temer included the chairman of the Business Leadership Group (Lide), João Dória Júnior, the chairman of Lide International and former Brazilian minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Luiz Fernando Furlan, the chairman and CEO of Audi Brazil, Jörg Hoffman, and the CEO of BRF, Cláudio Galeazzi.
Temer’s trip also included Brazilian government officials. The meeting with Maktoum, held at Zabeel Palace, was attended by the Emirati ministers of Finance, of Development and International Cooperation, and of Foreign Affairs.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
