São Paulo – The Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce CEO, Michel Alaby, met this Tuesday (12th) with the Palestinian deputy minister of Economy, Abdel Hafiz Nofal, in Ramallah, West Bank. One of the main topics of the conversation was the free trade agreement between the Arab country and the Mercosur, signed late last year.
“The deputy minister inquired how Palestinian companies may benefit from the agreement,” Alaby told ANBA by telephone. He advised for the businessmen to attend trade shows and other business events in Brazil, and placed the Arab Brazilian Chamber at their avail to help organize trade missions. The Brazilian ambassadress to Palestine, Ligia Maria Scherer, attended the meeting.
Alaby and his advisor, Rafael Abdulmassih, are in the West Bank by invitation of the Palestinian ambassador to Brazil, Ibrahim Alzeben, to discuss business opportunities between the two countries, especially those that will arise from the agreement signed with the Mercosur. The agreement is still pending ratification from the parliaments of the nations involved, i.e. Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Palestine before it enters into force.
According to Alaby, Palestinian products with the most potential for success on the Brazilian market are olives, olive oil, “ethnic” foods – such as local jams and fruit compotes –, granites, marbles and religious handicraft. According to him, these items are in the list of goods that will enjoy import tax exemption in the countries of the South American bloc.
The deputy minister added that Palestinian importers are interested in making direct purchases –free from intermediaries – of Brazilian products such as beef, poultry, sugar, wood, and wooden doors. He emphasized that consumption in the country ranges from 5,000 to 6,000 tonnes per year for beef, 10,000 to 12,000 for poultry, and 50,000 to 60,000 for sugar.
The Arab Brazilian Chamber will pass on the list of importers interested to Brazilian enterprises which supply these products.
Another topic discussed was holding a congress in Brazil to promote investment in Palestine. The idea for the meeting was launched in 2009, by the then-Spanish foreign minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos and his Palestinian counterpart, Riad Malki, and taken on by the Brazilian government. The event should have taken place in 2010, but hasn’t thus far.
“We discussed resuming this discussion to try and have [the congress] in 2013,” said Alaby. Promoting Palestine as a tourist destination was another matter discussed with the deputy minister.
The Arab Brazilian Chamber CEO also discussed these issues at a meeting with representatives of the Federation of Palestinian Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture. He was received by the president of the organization, Ahmed Zughayer, and other board members.
Up until Thursday, Alaby will meet with authorities and businessmen in the cities of Nablus, Hebron and Bethlehem.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
