São Paulo – Negotiations for the use of digital customs clearance in trade operations between Brazil and Egypt are progressing. After meeting with the head of the Egyptian Customs Authority, Shahat Gathory, the president of the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC), Osmar Chohfi, said the technical processes have been resolved, and now only administrative details on the Egyptian side remain to be adjusted.
The negotiations concern Egypt’s adoption of Easy Trade, a system that integrates with the Ellos Platform, developed by the ABCC to digitize the export process to Arab countries. Jordan has already implemented this innovation. Easy Trade eliminates the need for paper documentation, issues the document on the same day for shipments processed by 4 p.m., and reduces costs.
“We felt a positive initiative from the authorities we met with, as the Ellos platform is a tool for facilitating and expediting trade between countries,” said Chohfi about the meeting held on Wednesday (30). This week, Chohfi and the secretary-general and vice president of international relations of the ABCC, Mohamad Mourad, are holding various meetings with Egyptian authorities. They are accompanied on their visits by the head of the institutions office in Cairo, Micheal Gamal.
On Thursday (31), Chohfi, Mourad and Gamal met with the chairman of the Suez Canal Economic Zone Authority (SCZone), Waleid Gamaleldien, and discussed the possibility of SCZone allocating one of its areas for the establishment of Brazilian industries, which, if the project materializes, could produce from this location.
“We invited a delegation from the SCZone to visit Brazil at the beginning of February 2025 to present the industrial zone’s facilities to Brazilian companies, as it would serve not only a market of 110 million people in Egypt but also countries in East Africa, leveraging the free trade agreements that Egypt maintains with these nations,” said Chohfi. He said a working group could be created to assess the potential of this opportunity.
Brazil-Egypt trade
According to Mourad, the meeting also addressed the expansion of trade and investment between the two countries, taking into account the benefits provided by the free trade agreement between Egypt and Mercosur (composed of Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay).
“On the investment agenda, the Suez Canal Authority seeks to attract Brazilian companies to establish themselves there, thus creating a Brazil hub, bringing production closer, reducing the risk of supply chain disruptions as occurred during the pandemic, and simultaneously benefiting from having their product closer to other African countries as well,” said the secretary-general.
During the week, the executives from the ABCC also met with Egypt’s minister of foreign affairs, Badr Abdelatty; the Brazilian ambassador to Cairo, Paulino Franco de Carvalho Neto; and the assistant secretary-general and head of economic relations of the League of Arab States, Al Ibrahim Al-Malki, among others. “We had fruitful conversations that pointed to opportunities for economic cooperation. However, it is necessary to work with the business sector and, in some cases, the government sector [to bring the projects discussed during the meetings to fruition],” said Chohfi.
Read more:
Arab-Brazilian Chamber talks cooperation in Egypt
Egypt seeks to attract Brazilian companies
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
