São Paulo – During a visit to the Council of Saudi Chambers last Wednesday (1st), Michel Alaby, the CEO of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, discussed the setting up of a common agenda of visits, missions and participation of Brazilian companies in fairs in Saudi Arabia. The matters were discussed during a meeting between Alaby and Fahd Al Sultan, the Council’s secretary general. The organization represents 18 chambers of commerce in the Arab country.
According to Alaby, there is a strong demand, on the part of the Saudis, for greater presence of Brazilian businessmen in the country. “They want visits [of Brazilians] to be more frequent. They are often visited by the Chinese, for instance, but Brazilians only show up once a year,” says Alaby, who is visiting the country mainly to attend the Food Arabia fair, held from May 29th to June 1st.
Another point addressed during the meeting was the establishment of the Brazil-Saudi Arabia Business Council. The idea has been under discussion since 2007, but the members are still in the process of being appointed. “On the part of Brazil, we already have enterprises such as JBS, BR Foods, Cosan, Vale, Marcopolo, among others,” says Alaby, adding that after completing the national list, Brazil will wait for the Saudi members to be defined. “We intend to establish [the Council] this year, so that we may have our first meeting next year,” he claimed.
On Wednesday, Alaby also attended a meeting at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce, where he met with Saud Al Sehali, the general manager of the organization. On the occasion, a partnership was signed for cooperation between the Saudi institution and the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce for the exchange of trade-related information.
The day also marked the end of the Food Arabia fair, which was attended by the Brazilian companies Frigorífico Equatorial, ABN Trading, Oxford Porcelanas, Energy Trading, and the Brazilian Halal Food Centre (Cibal), in a booth organized by the Arab Brazilian Chamber and the Ministry of Foreign Relations.
According to Guilherme Ferrioli, a Business executive at the Arab Brazilian Chamber, the businessmen made a “quite positive assessment of the fair.” “They really enjoyed attending, even more so because most are not on the Saudi market yet. The fair was an opportunity to open the doors that lead into the country,” he claimed. According to Ferrioli, each company made at least two effective contacts that should result in business deals over the next few weeks.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
