Aqaba, Jordan – This Thursday (12th), the king of Jordan, Abdullah II, received the Brazilian business delegation currently in the country, headed by the president of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Salim Taufic Schahin.
During the meeting, held in the royal palace in the city of Aqaba, off the Red Sea Coast, the king stated that he wishes to foster relations with Brazil in agriculture, mining, energy and the aerospace industry, all of which he has already discussed with president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in his visit to Brazil in October 2008.
According to Abdullah II, Jordan can learn from the Brazilian experience in these industries. He placed special emphasis on the aerospace industry. “The aircraft industry is of great interest to us,” said the monarch at the meeting covered by ANBA.
The Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer was represented at the meeting by the vice president of client support for defence in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, Ricardo Bester. The Brazilian company has already supplied commercial aircraft to the Royal Jordanian airline.
Now, the Jordanian government wants to attract to the country the warehouse for replacement parts that Embraer intends to open in the Middle East, and is interested in purchasing Brazilian aircraft for the defence sector.
The minister of Industry and Trade, Amer Al Hadidi, who attended the meeting, underscored that passenger flow at the Amman International Airport grew 20%, in spite of the world financial crisis, and cited the free zone premises at the airport as a possible location for the warehouse.
Also in the defence field, the president of Condor, a maker of non-lethal weapons, Carlos Frederico de Aguiar, told the king that his company already provides material to the Jordanian army and police. Aguiar is also the chairman of the Brazilian Defence and Security Industries Association (Abimde).
With regard to agriculture and energy, the Jordanian ambassador in Brazil, Ramez Goussous, informed the monarch that he is in touch with the Brazilian government to start bilateral cooperation in ethanol and biodiesel manufacturing. The Arab country wants the share of renewable sources in its energy matrix to reach 10% by 2020.
Also concerning agriculture, the Brazilian ambassador to Amman, Fernando José de Abreu, stated that a consortium comprising 1,000 Brazilian agricultural cooperatives is interested in the phosphate and potassium that are produced in Jordan.
Salim Schahin talked about the potential for increasing bilateral tourism and mentioned soap opera “Viver a Vida” (To Live the Life), of the Globo television network, which had scenes shot in Jordan, and should increase the interest of Brazilians in the Arab country.
Schahin also underscored that the Brazilian government has the political will to promote the so-called South-South cooperation, among developing countries, and advised Jordan to use the large community of Arab descendents living in Brazil as a facilitator for bilateral business deals.
He stated that trade between Brazil and the countries in the Middle East and North Africa nearly doubled from 2005 to 2008, having risen from US$ 10.5 billion to US$ 20.3 billion.
The meeting with the king was also attended by prince Faisal Bin Al Hussein, brother of Abdullah II, chief of the Royal Court, Nasser Lozi, the director of the Department of International Affairs at the Court, Jafar Hassan, the advisor to the monarch, Ayman Safadi, and the director of the Arab Brazilian Chamber, Mustapha Abdouni, who is also the honorary consul of Jordan to São Paulo.
Development area
The Brazilian delegation also visited the headquarters of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone, a type of free zone, where they watched a presentation made by the environment commissioner of the agency in charge of the enterprise, Salim Al Moghrabi.
The area is destined for tourist, hotel, industry and port projects. According to Moghrabi, since 2001, the special zone has already received investment of US$ 18 million, whereas the initial expectation was to attract US$ 6 billion up until 2020. The aim is to develop to the maximum the only coastal area in Jordan, with only 27 kilometres of extension.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum