São Paulo – Brazilian halal exporters and Saudi importers joined a networking breakfast on Thursday (23) in the Embassy of Brazil in Riyadh. The event was an action by the Halal do Brasil project, spearheaded by the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil) to broaden Brazil’s halal foothold in foreign markets. Halal means fit for Muslim consumption.
Saudis attending included representatives from business associations like Saudi Exports and foreign trade companies and restaurant chains. According to the head of the ABCC office in Dubai, Rafael Solimeo, who participated in the event, Saudis were very pleased with the vendors they found. According to Solimeo, in addition to an affordable profile, they saw in Brazilian enterprises new players for their market.
“The Arabs were very pleased and even amazed with what they found,” Solimeo told ANBA. Topics discussed ranged from selling rice and fish to inputs to Saudi food industries. Besides Solimeo, other ABCC and ApexBrasil staff workers participated in the networking event in the Brazilian embassy, as well as the ambassador from Brazil to Saudi Arabia, Sérgio Eugênio de Risios Bath.
ABCC internationalization projects manager, Fernanda Dantas, says the breakfast was held in Riyadh because the country is a very relevant market for halal goods and key for the project itself. According to her, not to mention the appreciation local consumers give to halal, it’s a high-income market.
Halal project at Saudi Food Show
The networking event took place on the last day of the exhibition Saudi Food Show in Riyadh, where Brazilian companies participated as exhibitors in an area organized by the ApexBrasil. Some of them are already members of the Halal do Brasil project. ABCC international business executive Ahmed Kamal Hussein participated in the trade show to talk to businesspeople on the Halal project.
During the event, Brazil’s agricultural attaché to Saudi Arabia, Adriano Perrelli Pestana de Castro, was given an official commendation of the Order of Rio Branco, which is given by the Brazilian government via its Ministry of Foreign Affairs to people for relevant services rendered to the country.
Read more:
Rio Grande do Sul: 5th largest exporter to Muslims
Find out more on the Halal do Brasil project.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
