São Paulo – Businessmen in the energy, infrastructure, building, transport and agribusiness sectors should participate in the business forum at the 3rd Summit of South American-Arab Countries (Aspa), to take place in Lima, Peru, next week. According to the general manager at the Peruvian Foreign Trade Society (ComexPeru), Eduardo Ferreyros, these sectors are the ones that are most representative among those that have already confirmed participation in the business meetings to take place in the sidelines of the Aspa. ComexPeru is one of the organizers of the business meeting.
According to Ferreyros, 400 businessmen are expected for the forum, of which 200 Peruvian and 200 foreign. According to the list obtained by ANBA, up to the start of last week, 140 businessmen had confirmed presence in the meeting, most from Peru and the United Arab Emirates. From Brazil, only eight people, representatives of companies and organisations, had confirmed their presence at the business meetings. Confirmation of participation, however, was still going on last week and should continue this week.
Apart from Brazil, Peru and the United Arab Emirates, businessmen from Algeria, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Paraguay, Qatar and Uruguay should also participate. Among the Arab countries that have scheduled participation are the Algerian oil company Sonatrach, the Jordanian JBC, the Omani Voltamp for Energy Company, Qatar Mining, Dubai’s DP World, in the ports sector, and Diamond Line, a company from the Emirates that is specialized in decoration.
The government of Peru has great expectations for the business meetings, as it believes it may increase trade and economic exchange with the Arab world. “Peru has been developing a policy of opening and integration with the world,” said Ferreyros, recalling that the country has trade agreements with regions like the United States, the European Union, Asia and South America, but that it is still far from the Arab countries. “They have great potential,” he says. The manager believes that it is possible both to attract Arab investment to his country and to export to the region, mainly foods.
On the days of the business meeting, there should be roundtables, where entrepreneurs and executives may meet face to face with their counterparts in other regions to evaluate trade possibilities. There should also be a conference with talks by representatives of South American and Arab governments. The programme for businessmen should place on Monday (1) and Tuesday (2), only in the morning. In the afternoon, those interested may go on a City Tour of Lima.
According to Ferreyros, on the 1st, the business conference should include two representatives of South American and two representative of Arab countries, as well as the president of Peru, Ollanta Humala Tasso, who should welcome those present. From the Arab world, representatives should include the president of Lebanon, Michel Sleiman, and the emir of Qatar, Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, as well as the assistant secretary general for Economic Affairs of the League of Arab States, Mohamed Al-Twaijri. From South America, one of the spokespersons should be the president of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, whose presence has not yet been confirmed, and another leader who has not yet been defined.
After the presentation of each of the leaders there should be a debate with specialists in each of the sectors. The main themes to be discussed at the talks are infrastructure, food safety, energy future and natural resources. Rousseff should speak about food safety. Infrastructure should be addressed by Lebanon, natural resources by Qatar and the energy sector by another South American president, who may be from Chile or Uruguay. The president of Brazilian oil company Petrobras, Maria das Graças Silva Foster, could be one of the panellists. On the second day, the talks will be by ministers of Peru.
*Translated by Mark Ament
