São Paulo – Libya wishes to attract civil construction companies, Bahrain wants to gain strength as a trade hub, and Sudan intends to attract businessmen into agriculture. These were some of the opportunities announced by representatives of these countries this Tuesday (15th), the second day of the Arab Businessmen and Investors Conference being held in Tunis, Tunisia.
According to the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce CEO, Michel Alaby, in the first panel of the day, the Libyans showed how the transition is taking place after the ousting and death of dictator Muammar Gaddafi, in 2011, and which sectors of the economy need investment the most. These include infrastructure and medical-hospital equipment. The opportunities in Libya were presented by the president of the General Union of Libyan Chambers of Commerce, Idris Omram Abdulhadi.
“I spoke to a few representatives of Libya and told them Brazil will have a new ambassador in their country this year. I also said I intend to pay a visit to Libya in order to see how we can help them [in the reconstruction],” said Alaby.
Bahrain, in turn, introduced itself as a major trade hub in the Middle East. Bahraini representatives said the country is “open” to newcomer enterprises. Alaby told them the Arab Brazilian Chamber is keen on renewing its agreement with the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
In the third panel of the day, the Sudanese claimed that the country is attracting investment from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, China, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, India, Kuwait and Brazil. Specifically in the case of Brazil, the Sudanese presented the Pinesso group’s projects, based in the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, involving cotton and soy crops.
Saudi Arabia, Emirates, Kuwait and Pakistan are investing in wheat, sorghum and maize; the Chinese, in iron ore, oil, port and airport projects. Turkey is investing in building houses and trade centres, and the Indians, in roads.
There is still space for companies interested in the Sudanese agricultural industry. There are 60,000 heads of cattle and sheep in the country, but there are cold storage issues. There is a demand for these cattle and sheep from both the Sudanese market and countries in the region. In order to attract foreign enterprises to the industry, the government is willing to provide idle meat packing facilities to the private initiative.
The Conference opened last Monday (14th) with a panel on Tunisia. The main topic of the panels is investment opportunities in Arab countries, especially those which underwent revolutions lately.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
