São Paulo – The Guarulhos City Hall is planning to encourage local companies to do business with the Arab world and to build cultural ties with the region. Guarulhos’ secretary for Scientific, Economic and Technological Development and Innovation, Rodrigo Barros (pictured above, on the left) and Human Rights secretary Lameh Smeili (on the right) visited the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce headquarters in São Paulo this Thursday (2) to discuss prospective approaches.
The secretaries and their delegation were welcomed by Arab Chamber CEO Michel Alaby and administrative vice president Adel Auada. The visit is part of a broader City Hall agenda to work closer with chambers of commerce, consulates and embassies, in a drive to connect the city with other countries. “The Arab world has proved to be very welcoming to trade with Brail,” Barros told ANBA. He also said his intent in seeking out the Arab Chamber is to speak with the 22 existing Arab countries.
Secretary Barros hopes to foster imports from Arab countries by businesses in Guarulhos as well as have them sell to the region. The goal is to strengthen the local industry. “We are interested in strengthening the industry in the city of Guarulhos, and we believe exportation adds competitiveness,” he told ANBA. He envisions sales of goods including electric material, metal, toiletry items and cosmetics.
Barros names Guarulhos-based companies that already engage in trade with Arab countries, like Tecfil, an automobile filter maker which sells to Egypt, and ones that do not sell but could, like SIL, for electric cabling and wiring; Ecco Brasil, for cosmetics; Higie Top, for toiletry products; Karina, for PVC; and Rosset, for textiles.
Guarulhos is mostly known for being home to the São Paulo International Airport, the largest in Brazil. Although airport is a major source of income and traffic, the city also boasts a range of well-developed businesses – there are 426 exporting companies and 637 importing ones.
During the Arab Chamber meeting, an event was planned to show Guarulhos businesspersons the path to selling to Arab countries. This should be done in tandem with the Arab Chamber, although the date is yet to be set. Besides Alaby, the entourage was welecomed by the Chamber’s Information Management coordinator Marcus Vinícius.
City Hall plans also include an event on Arab culture. Secretary Smeili told ANBA that the intention is to provide space for Arab embassies to showcase the culture, traditions and cuisine of their countries. Also envisioned is a forum on human rights and big cities joined by delegates from Arab municipalities. It has been agreed that the city will host the Municipal Forum on Human Rights on December 11.
Three Arab airlines have flights to and from Guarulhos International Airport – Emirates, Qatar Airways and Royal Air Maroc –, and secretary Rodrigo Barros intends to get Arab travelers to stay in Guarulhos hotel. “We have 19 hotels that can meet that demand,” he told ANBA. The secretary argues that the city is well-suited to business tourism, and that it also boasts good cuisine, green areas and malls.
Guarulhos is also interested in being the target of Arab investment. Rodrigo Barros told ANBA about projects that could be invested in, like the building of a multipurpose sports arena, the Guarulhos Technology Park, a Convention Center and City Hall Administrative Facilities, plus a tender for street lighting.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
