São Paulo – A delegation put together by trade promotion agencies from Egypt will hold this Friday (8), at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, in São Paulo, a seminar to discuss the free trade agreement between Mercosur and Egypt, which went into effect in September.
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“First of all, we are interested in showing Brazilian entrepreneurs this agreement between them and Egypt,” the first under-secretary of Egypt’s Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ahmed Anter, who’s the head of the mission, said to ANBA on Thursday (7) evening, after a meeting with the Arab Chamber’s president, Rubens Hannun, vice-president of International Affairs, Osmar Chohfi, and other executives.
Anter is the head of the Egyptian Commercial Service (ECS), the body responsible for the country’s trade offices abroad, such as the one in São Paulo that is managed by consul Mohamed Elkhatib, who also took part in the meeting with the Arab Chamber’s executives. “After this, we can tell you which products we have to offer, and you can tell us what you have to offer,” added the undersecretary.
In advance, however, he said that Egypt has a special interest in promoting exports of textiles and apparel to Mercosur, a sector considered to be a priority. Other items that the Egyptians want to export are construction material, vegetables, fresh fruits and other agricultural products, and furniture.
Anter was accompanied by Egypt’s Export Development Authority’s (EDA) CEO, Sherine El Shorbagi, and director of exports policies, Ahmed Rizk.
During the meeting, Anter pointed out that the Mercosur-Egypt agreement will facilitate the expansion of bilateral trade and that his country wants to reduce the trade deficit it has with Brazil. “There’s a list of products that we would like to begin exporting,” he said.
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Brazil’s exports to Egypt totaled USD 2 billion from January to October, an increase of 32% over the same period of last year. The main items shipped were sugar, beef, maize, poultry and iron ore.
On the other hand, Egypt exports to Brazil were worth USD 140 million, up 91.6% in the same comparison. The main items traded are fertilizers, naphtha and olives. The data is from the Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services of Brazil (MDIC).
Expos
Besides taking advantage of the opportunities brought by the agreement, the Egyptians want to promote their products in business expos in Brazil. “We have a special interest in taking part in Apas with you,” said Anter, mentioning the expo of the São Paulo Supermarket Association Trade Show, scheduled for March 7 to 10. As in previous years, the Arab Chamber will have a stand in the expo for exhibitors from the Arab countries. “We are interested not only in Apas, but in other expos as well. We want to check with the Arab Chamber which ones we can participate in,” he added.
Rubens Hannun suggested an exclusive exhibition of Egyptian products at the Arab Chamber’s headquarters. “We can think of holding an Egyptian expo here in our space,” he said. The Arab Chamber’s headquarters has broad areas for conferences, exhibitions, meetings and receptions.
“We want Brazilian consumers to think of Egyptian products as being safe, of the highest quality and with competitive prices,” said Shorbagi. “We have an exports strategy aimed at the diversification of the products traded and access to new markets, and the government is encouraging the private sector to go to Latin America,” she added.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
