São Paulo – “Brazilian companies will save time and money by utilizing the Suez Canal,” said admiral Abd El Kader Darwish, vice president of Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone), while delivering a presentation to Brazilian executives this Wednesday (4) in the offices of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, in São Paulo.
SCZone project management office director Mohamed Abo El Dahab said the meeting was intended to encourage deal-making and to invite Brazilian business owners to complete the manufacturing of their products in the region. This would give them an Egyptian certificate of origin, which in turn would entitle them to benefits including reduced shipping charges in selling to markets like the European Union, for instance.
“Ours is a duty-free area, and thanks to our agreement with the European Union, getting Egyptian certificates of origin for Brazilian goods would address several cost and logistics issues for Brazilian businesses,” Dahab explained.
Dahab discussed an array of services and facilities that the economic zone could provide to Brazilian exporting companies, with six seaports, industrial and residential areas and four underwater tunnels linking the Canal’s banks that are currently under construction, with completion expected by the end of this year.
As for services, he mentioned flexible business models and partnerships, fast decision-making, the fact that SCZone is a duty-free, one-stop shop facility.
Darwish said that when it comes to the Brics (Brazil, India, China and South Africa), the Suez Canal is already home to projects from Russia and China, and India is beginning to invest there as well.” We are here to divulge our work and to get Brazilian entrepreneurs to use our ports,” he said.
The SCZone VP also said a memorandum of understanding was entered into by the Suez Canal and the Port of Santos on Tuesday (3), and that it should lead to actions including technical cooperation agreements between the two facilities.
The presentation was attended by Brazilian businesspersons and Arab Brazilian Chamber executives. “I found it interesting and I will convey the information to my clients,” said consulting firm BestComm’s Marketing director Ruy Falcão.
Click here for the SCZone website.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
