Goiânia – At a dinner held on Wednesday (6) at the official seat of Brazil’s Goiás state government, Governor Ronaldo Caiado told a delegation of Arab diplomats led by Council of Arab Ambassadors dean and Palestine’s ambassador to Brazil Ibrahim Alzeben that the state is investing in infrastructure and economic diversification. He told ANBA that he made sure to receive the Arabs in their visit to the state capital Goiânia. (Pictured, Caiado and Alzeben.)
“The economy of Goiás is not just agriculture and mining. We have an industrialization, too. It’s a state that has developed above average. Brazil grew 2.9%, we grew 6.1% (in 2023). We’re investing heavily in infrastructure, railways, and highways, to expand agricultural land. And rest assured that this is a safe state, whose public security is a landmark in Brazil,” said Caiado.
He added that his administration ends in 2026 and, following eight years as governor and 24 as a congressman in Brasília, he could be nominated as a presidential candidate by his party. “If all goes well,” he said, “I hope to welcome you at the official presidential residence next time,” said Caiado.
International politics and the conflict in Gaza were topics at the dinner, too. The ambassador from Palestine said his people suffers with the conflict and that it urges to reach a two-state solution between Palestine and Israel. Caiado responded: “You can rest assured with respect to my standing. When I request the dinner to be at my residence, it’s because I find a great pleasure in welcoming you. So, please feel at home,” he said.
Caiado and Alzeben traded gifts. At the end of the meeting, the governor talked to ANBA. “[The Arab countries] are already major importers of what we produce in the state of Goiás, particularly in livestock. As it is, following their visit today to the world’s largest meatpacker JBS, I made a point to receive them to say that Goiás welcomes them and recognizes their importance to our state’s economy, and that we’ll further expand this trade both from Goiás to the Arab League and from them to us,” he said. Earlier that day, the ambassadors visited a one-hundred percent halal plant of JBS in Goiás.
The dinner was attended by Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) International Relations Vice President Mohamad Mourad and CEO & Secretary-General Tamer Mansour. In addition to Alzeben, the following diplomats participated: Qais Marouf Kheiro Shqair, ambassador of the Arab League to Brazil; Ahmad Mohammed A. M. Al Shebani, of Qatar; Osama Ibrahim Ayad Sawan, of Libya; Mai Taha Khalil, of Egypt; Abdoulaye Idrissa Wagne, of Mauritania; and Maen Masadeh, of Jordan; Algeria chargé d’affaires Emira Assia Dali; Algeria’s Emira Assia Dali; Sudan’s Mohammed Elrashed Sidahmed Mohammed; and Iraq’s consul Ali Majid Jasim Al-Obaidi. The official visit also includes Fares Mohamed Naklah, advisor at the Palestinian embassy in Brazil, and ABCC Institutional Relations advisor Bassel Abou Latif.
The journalist traveled by the invitation of JBS
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
