São Paulo – Brazil’s ambassador to Sudan, Patrícia Lima, spoke at a virtual event that the current government of the Arab country sees four areas with potential for international cooperation: energy, mining, infrastructure, and agriculture.
The event hosted by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Afro-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (AfroChamber) was the webinar “Sudan: Technologies and Business Partnerships Opportunities for the Brazilian and Sudanese Companies,” which in addition to the diplomat’s contributions, had other participations to discuss business opportunities between Brazil and Sudan.
The ambassador has been in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, for two years and five months. “It is very satisfying to be here and to have lived the transition from a regime to now a democratic state, of freedom, which foresees its growth and aims to take advantage of all its potential, both in human, technical, technological, animal, and natural terms,” said Lima.
She says Sudan is a country with strategic geography and rich soil, like Brazil, favoring an agricultural propensity. “Agriculture must be the center of a lot of cooperation, especially from Brazil. We have several elements in common, several ties that unite us with Sudan and one of them is the agricultural potential, we must explore this aspect,” she stated.
Brazil has solid bilateral relations with Sudan, Lima said, in addition to having several aspects in common from the cultural and educational standpoints and the passion for football, capoeira, and music, the diplomat listed. “Sudan is a happy country with a young population, so it has a potential for growth and creativity very similar to Brazil’s, and this is an opportunity to get to know Sudan better,” she said.
The president of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Ambassador Osmar Chohfi, opened the webinar bringing relevant information on the import and export agenda between the countries and stating that Sudan is a country that has a great potential to be explored in terms of trade and bilateral cooperation.
“We want to show that Sudan wants to receive investments in many sectors, with ambitious projects in the areas of energy, mining, infrastructure, railways, airports, among others,” said the ambassador.
In addition, Chohfi stated that the African country can become a hub for other countries in Africa, due to its strategic location. “We hope that opportunities for strategic and prolific partnerships will open up, to further strengthen Brazil’s relations with Sudan,” he said.
The chargé d’affaires at the Sudanese Embassy in Brasilia, Mohammed Elrashed Sidahmed, also attended the webinar. He said in the past two years, the country has regained democracy and has been working to stabilize its economy and return to the international community, with an ambitious program of economic transformation. “Working together, Sudan and Brazil can bring benefits to both the population and governments,” he stated.
The president of AfroChamber, Rui Mucaje, affirmed that the Afro-Brazilian Chamber and the Arab Brazilian Chamber are thinking about solutions together and that the webinar was an example of this. “Sudan is a wonderful country, I invite you to travel to Sudan and get to know it,” he said, emphasizing that in addition to providing business opportunities in all areas, the country has also a rich culture.
The event had Brazilian and Sudanese speakers and brought together about 400 people from both countries. The debates were mediated by the Institutional Relations manager at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Fernanda Baltazar.
In the webinar, also spoke the manager at the African Development Bank Group, Raubil Durowoju; executive director of Innovation at the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (MAPA), Cleber Soares; director of Agricultural Technology Transfer at the CTC Group, Mamoum Dawelbeit; researcher at the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), Marília Regini Nuti; and Marketing & Content director at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Silvana Gomes.
Read more news about the webinar:
Brazil willing to share agricultural innovation with Sudan
Ten opportunities for companies in Sudan
Watch the full event on YouTube:
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
