São Paulo – The Algerian National Foreign Trade Promotion Agency (Algex) wants backing for its affiliated companies to participate in trade shows in Brazil. On the other hand, the organization is offering support for Brazilian companies to engage in business roundtables and meetings in its country. The issue was one of the topics of a meeting between the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce CEO, Michel Alaby, and the Algex’s director of Strategies and Trade Promotion Programs, Naima Zertal, last Tuesday (24).
The topics of the meeting, which was also attended by Sérgio Florêncio, the advising minister of the Brazilian embassy in Algiers, included points of the cooperation agreement to be signed by the two countries at the Brazil-Algeria Joint Committee, due in September or October this year in the Arab country.
“The terms of the agreement have already been set,” said Alaby. “The meeting was only intended to tackle aspects of the joint committee meeting,” according to him. “Matters we want to discuss include the existing barriers on both sides, be they tariff- or-non-tariff-related,” he says, referring to trade between Algeria and Brazil. Alaby was invited to take part in the joint committee meeting as an observer.
“At the joint committee, we are also going to discuss an eventual Mercosur-Algeria agreement,” said Alaby. The issue had already been discussed in 2008, but no agreement was signed. According to Alaby, the main products Brazil intends to sell to Algeria are foodstuffs, furniture, cosmetics, agricultural machinery and equipment in general, auto parts, and packaging material. Algeria, says the CEO, wants to export dates, olive oil, olives, wine and artichoke.
Beef
Also on Tuesday, Fernando Sampaio, CEO of the Brazilian Beef Exporters Association (Abiec), currently attending the Djazagro food and agricultural machinery fair in Algiers, met with two representatives of the Algerian Ministry of Agriculture, Abass Rachid, the director for sanitary issues, and Abdo Mohamed, head of sanitary issues.
At the meeting, Brazilian beef exports to Algeria were discussed, according to Tamer Mansour, the Arab Brazilian Chamber Government Relations executive who attended the meeting. “The quality of Brazilian beef is unquestionable, it is higher than that of Indian beef, and yet we are losing to India because of pricing. Abiec has promised to make an effort to try and lower the prices,” says Mansour.
At the meeting, it was decided that Abiec will conduct a study, by means of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, to establish that Brazilian ox liver can be exported with an 80-day validity period. Currently, the product is valid for 50 days, thus it cannot be shipped to Algeria due to the time required for transportation and distribution.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
