São Paulo – The Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) held the Brazil & Egypt Business Meeting this Tuesday afternoon (5) at its headquarters in the capital of São Paulo. The event gathered about 50 Brazilian business people and the Egyptian delegation on a mission to the city.
The secretary-general at the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce (FEDCOC), Alaa Eldin Esmat Ezz (pictured above), spoke about the opportunities in the Arab country both as a business hub and for exporting and assembling products. He stated the country needs investment in infrastructure and has substantial construction projects underway. “About 60% of all global trade passes through the Suez Canal, and Egypt is a gateway for shipping products across Africa by land,” he emphasized.
Egypt is a major producer of fertilizers, olives, garlic, citrus, textiles, cotton, and petrochemicals, among other products. The Arab country is the third leading buyer of Brazilian products among the Arab countries and mainly imports beef, poultry, wheat, and sugar.
Also at the event were the commercial consul of Egypt to São Paulo, Nashwa Bakr; secretary-general of the ABCC, Tamer Mansour; regional director of the ABCC office in Cairo, Michael Gamal, who spoke about the benefits of the Mercosur-Egypt free trade agreement; and the ABCC’s Market Intelligence manager, Marcus Vinicius, who provided data on trade between the two countries.
In the last session, the director of Investment Attraction of the State of Minas Gerais (Invest Minas), Ronaldo Baquete, and the director of Export Promotion of the Secretariat of Economic Development of Minas Gerais, Marcelo Faria, also spoke. They gave an overview of the state, with the main products and sectors. Minas is Brazil’s leading coffee, milk, and tomatoes producer and has great relevance in the mining, metallurgy, automobiles, hydraulic and solar energy, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical and information technology sectors. According to Baquete, the Arab countries are the most strategic region for Minas Gerais, as they export a substantial amount of iron ore and coffee to the Arabs and need their fertilizers for agribusiness.
After the presentations, the ABCC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the company Egyzone to foster cooperation in digitalization, business development, and export and import services between the countries. After the closing, a coffee and networking session was organized by Boa Esperança Agriculture Cooperative (CAPEBE), which offered its superior-grade coffee from the South of Minas Gerais.
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
