Brasília – The Egyptian minister of Industry and Trade, Rachid Mohamed Rachid, is interested in cooperating with Brazil in the biofuels sector. This was one of the subjects discussed yesterday (13) in Brazilian capital Brasília by Rachid and the Brazilian minister of Mines and Energy, Edison Lobão. "Egypt is very much interested in learning from Brazil and exchanging information on renewable energy," Rachid told ANBA.
Egypt, which does not produce biofuels yet, showed interest in Brazilian ethanol production. According to Lobão, Brazil is recognized as the country with the cleanest energy matrix in the world. "We want to determine how we can cooperate with Brazil in this area," said Rachid.
Brazilian ethanol is manufactured from sugarcane, rather than from raw materials that are also good for feeding humans and animals, such as the maize used for alcohol fuel production in the United States. Besides, Brazil still has a vast area to be used for all sorts of crops; therefore, sugarcane need not take over other crops or advance into preservation areas.
According to Rachid, Egypt does not support subsidised food production for the generation of energy. "We do not possess much arable land, but are receptive to making biofuel production viable in Egypt," said the minister. He also claimed that, in addition to the biofuels area, the two countries might cooperate in offshore oil exploration, an area in which Brazil is a global leader in technology.
Greater cooperation
Rachid stated that his coming to Brazil was very positive. "The aim was to open up more channels between Brazil and Egypt, and we are going to leave the country with a higher level of cooperation," he stated. According to him, after all of the meetings that the Egyptian delegation attended in São Paulo, with businessmen, and in Brasília, with ministers, bilateral relations are going to improve even further.
According to the minister, after the trade meetings that the Egyptian businessmen had in São Paulo, bilateral trade, which reached US$ 1.3 billion last year, should also grow. Sectors in which he believes there is potential for increasing exchange include automobiles, auto parts, textiles, agriculture, services and tourism.
Other issues to which Rachid ascribed importance, and which he discussed during the trip, were the signing of the memorandum for veterinary services turned to expanding the flow of trade between Brazil and Egypt, especially in the meats sector, and his talks with the Brazilian minister of Foreign Relations, Celso Amorim, regarding the inking of the trade agreement with the Mercosur.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
