São Paulo – A delegation of investors from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, spent the last ten days visiting some Brazilian states seeking investment opportunities. Yesterday (20), while visiting the offices of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, in São Paulo, businessmen said they had great interest in improving relations with Brazil and other countries in Latin America.
"In Brazil, we are interested in several sectors, like energy, including renewable, as well as port and airport infrastructure," said the head of the delegation, Abdulla H. Khunji, from the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa). According to him, the Emirates has grown much in recent years and is seeking partners to continue developing.
The delegation is part of a mission from the Arab country to Latin America, headed by the minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdallah bin Zayed Nahyan. Before coming to Brazil, they visited several countries, like Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia and Uruguay. "We want to improve relations with these countries and also to invite them to visit the Emirates and to invest in our region," said Khunji, who also visited the states of Manaus and Rio de Janeiro and Brazilian capital Brasília before heading to São Paulo.
The businessmen, who met with Arab Brazilian Chamber president Salim Taufic Schahin; with the organisation’s secretary general, Michel Alaby, and with director Mustapha Abdouni, watched a video about the work developed by the Arab Brazilian Chamber and made some questions concerning the legal aspects of opening a company in Brazil. They also asked for information about business opportunities in the areas of infrastructure and tourism projects.
According to Alaby, the investors noticed that in Brazil there is potential for investment in several sectors. Most already have funds in the United States, the Caribbean and Europe. According to the head of the delegation, this is the first time that the Emirates promotes a heavyweight mission to Latin America. "This was just the beginning. I hope that there may be greater cooperation between both organisations," he said.
The companies included in the delegation were the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign funds in the world, Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi government investment company, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development and the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar), which is responsible for Masdar City, the first "green" city of the Middle East. The delegation also included a director of the International Financial Organisation of the Ministry of Finance of the Emirates.
*Translated by Mark Ament
