Cairo – The new head of the Commercial Section of the Embassy of Brazil in Cairo, Fernando Bastos, talked with representatives of the office of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) in the Egyptian capital city earlier this week on sectors that could be boosted within Brazil-Egypt trade and the integration and cooperation the embassy and the office can carry out for the development of trade relations between the countries.
Fernando Bastos has recently took up the position, and one of its first activities was visiting the headquarters of the ABCC in Cairo. The meeting was attended by the regional director of the ABCC office in Egypt, Michael Gamal, and the office’s International Relations director Rania Hagrass. From the Brazilian embassy, besides Bastos, minister-counsellor Bernardo Brasil attended.
Bastos said in the meeting there’re promising opportunities to boost coffee exports from Brazil to the Egyptian market. He said bananas and black pepper can also be exported, especially since the Egyptian market is a major importer of these products, but it buys them from Asian nations that don’t have free trade agreements with Egypt, unlike Mercosur, a bloc Brazil is part of.
Gamal said there’s a trend that Egypt will import more bananas from Brazil, especially since the product entered the customs reduction range set forth in the Mercosur agreement. This has helped cut importation costs for Egyptian buyers compared to the rest of Latin American countries.
During the meeting, they discussed various potential actions like a coordinated participation in international shows and the organization of Brazilian trade missions to Egypt. One topic was how to ensure a strong participation of Brazil in Food Africa, a food trade show whose next edition will take place in December in Cairo. Gamal suggested holding B2B meetings for Brazilian companies during the exhibition and talked about the Egyptian interest in receiving Brazilian trade missions from sectors such as lumber and cotton.
The ABCC regional director stressed the importance of holding conference and visits from Brazil to Alexandria, where there are a large number of importers that’re member of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce. The holding of a Brazilian Coffee Day in the city in the second half of 2023 was agreed.
Gamal stressed that the regional office of the ABCC can play a key role in facilitating the entrance of Brazilian companies in Egypt’s market by helping them register at the General Organization for Export and Import Control of Egypt, according to the Resolution 43, which requires companies to register at this authority before their products can make into the country. He delved into the experience of the office in this regard.
Translated by Georgette Merkhan & Guilherme Miranda
