São Paulo – The CEO of DP World, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, said in Dubai that he is waiting on the company’s board to assess a feasibility report on investment in the state of Amazonas (northern Brazil).
The statement was made to the secretary of Planning of the state, Denis Minev, and to the secretary of Sustainable Development, Nádia Ferreira, who attended a meeting with the executive in the United Arab Emirates, on the sidelines of the Global Agenda Summit, that was also attended by the governor of Amazonas, Eduardo Braga.
Sulayem travelled to state capital Manaus approximately one month ago, and claimed that he was very impressed with Amazonas. He said that he submitted the report on investment possibilities to the board of DP World as soon as he returned from the trip. “I am expecting a reply concerning the evaluations in order to decide what the next step will be.”
Minev told Sulayem of the existing sustainable development programs in Amazonas, such as Zona Franca Verde (Green Free Zone) and Bolsa Floresta (Forest Purse), which pays benefits to inhabitants of reserves so that they will not clear them.
“I like this project and I am going to discuss with the board the possibility of collaborating with it,” said the executive, who contributes with various educational and humanitarian efforts worldwide.
Board
The visit of the Amazonas governor and secretaries to Dubai was motivated by the participation of Eduardo Braga in the Global Agenda Council for Ecosystems and Biodiversity Loss, one of the Global Agenda Councils that have been created by the World Economic Forum for its members to share knowledge and present solutions to issues of global relevance, such as the environment. The event was held from November 20th to 22nd.
“The value that ecosystems bring to the global community extends beyond the forest’s function of storing carbon. Biodiversity and freshwater are two other important products of interaction with daily life,” says the final report elaborated by the Council, to be presented at the meeting on global climate, due December in Denmark, and at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, due January, in Switzerland.
“Over the last few days, we have repeatedly discussed the importance of the ecosystem, and not only in the forest, for maintaining the Earth’s temperature. Now, our challenge is to raise the economic value of several factors of biodiversity, such as freshwater, of which Amazonas has vast reserves,” declared Braga.
The World Economic Forum has established 78 Global Agenda Councils. In each of them, 20 specialists seek solutions to various matters, based on international cooperation.
The population of the state of Amazonas is roughly 3.2 million. From January to October 2009, the state exported the equivalent of little over US$ 1 million to the League of Arab States. Since 1967, the state has a Free Zone comprising trade-, industry- and agriculture-related hubs.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
