São Paulo – The Egyptian minister of Industry and Trade, Rachid Mohamed Rachid, spent the day in the Brazilian capital Brasília today (5th), where he met with Brazilian counterparts in different ministries. He discussed ways to expand cooperation between the two countries, in various fields, and to put the free trade agreement signed this week by his country and the Mercosur into practice.
Rachid emphasized the logistics issue, because distance is considered to be one of the main obstacles to increasing bilateral trade. There are no direct flights between Brazil and Egypt, and the vessels that transport goods from one country to the other do so with stopovers.
The Egyptian minister discussed the matter during luncheon with the Brazilian foreign minister Celso Amorim and at a meeting with the minister of Transport, Paulo Passos, according to information supplied by the press offices of the Brazilian foreign ministry (Itamaraty) and the Ministry of Transport.
According to a release issued by the Ministry of Transport, Rachid proposed for the cooperation between Brazil and Egypt to “include exploring the logistical aspects of trade relations,” and for a workgroup to be established, comprising businessmen from the two countries, aiming to expand “bilateral trade in road and railway infrastructure.”
Another issue that the Egyptian addressed with Amorim, and also with the Brazilian Brazilian minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Miguel Jorge, was financing of bilateral business deals.
According to the press office of the Brazilian ministry, Rachid requested “greater government involvement” in exploring financing lines between the two nations, and Jorge highlighted the work of the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) as the leading financer of long-term projects in Brazil.
Rachid also asked Jorge for cooperation from the National Institute of Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality (Inmetro), which is linked to the Development Ministry, for transferring knowledge to the organization’s Egyptian counterpart.
Also with Jorge, the Egyptian minister called for trade missions to be organized, and placed an emphasis on agribusiness, a topic that he also discussed with the minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, Wagner Rossi.
According to the press office of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rachid and Rossi talked about the coming to Brazil, this year, of an Egyptian business mission to discuss business in the segment. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the Egyptian claimed that his country is interested in fields such as irrigation, seeds, agricultural machinery and ethanol.
Egypt also wants to expand fertilizer exports to Brazil. The Brazilian minister said that there is a growing demand from the agricultural sector, and that in spite of domestic production incentives, the country should remain a strong importer of these inputs for years to come.
Agribusiness accounts for a significant share of the Brazilian export basket to Egypt. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, revenues from shipments totalled US$ 483.1 million in the first half, and the main products sold were beef and sugar.
This Friday (6th), Rachid will be in São Paulo, the capital of the state of the same name, where he should attend an event at the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (Fiesp).
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
