São Paulo – President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva should visit Saudi Arabia next month. The trip is in the schedule of both the Brazilian Foreign Office (Itamaraty) and the Planalto Palace (seat of the Brazilian government), and should take place on May 16th and 17th, as the president heads to China. According to the Saudi ambassador in the Brazilian capital Brasília, Mohamad Amin Ali Kurdi, Lula is going to travel at the invitation of king Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud.
This is the president’s first trip to Saudi Arabia. He should take a group of businessmen, comprised of approximately 40 people, along as part of his delegation. The Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce is going to help the government to organise the business delegation, according to information supplied by the secretary general of the organisation, Michel Alaby.
Lula’s visit and the presence of the entrepreneurial mission should open up new doors for business between the two countries. Presently, Saudi Arabia is already the leading trade partner of Brazil among the countries in the League of Arab States. In the first quarter of this year, trade between the two nations totalled US$ 734.6 million, of which US$ 409 million consisted of exports from Brazil, and US$ 325 million, of Saudi sales to the Brazilian market.
Alaby claims that this is a good moment for visiting Saudi Arabia. According to him, the Arab country has ongoing projects for development of industrial centres and zones. “And the crisis has not seriously harmed the country,” he says. According to Alaby, Brazilians may find, in Saudi Arabia, a market for construction services and products, foodstuffs, fertilizer suppliers and partnerships in the petrochemical industry.
Early this year, the main products exported from Brazil to the Saudi market were meats, ores, sugar and maize. The Saudis, in turn, export to the Brazilians mainly petroleum and sulphur. Brazilian sales to the Saudis decreased by US$ 66.9 million. There was also a decline in Saudi exports to Brazil, of around US$ 380 million.
During Lula’s trip, according to the Saudi ambassador to Brasília, a memorandum of understanding will be signed that should lead to cooperation in several fields. The visit, according to Kurdi, should create an opportunity for the countries to work closer with each other. He underscored that Saudi Arabia and Brazil are members of the G-20 and may coordinate their actions.
Next year, Brazil is also going to host global conference “Alliance of Civilizations,” a forum aimed at deepening religious and cultural dialogue and promoting peaceful coexistence among different peoples. The first conference was held last year in Madrid, Spain, and was organized by the Saudi king. The United Nations then decided to take over the conference, and the second edition took place early this month in Istanbul, Turkey.
One of the goals of the Lula administration is to establish closer ties with the Arab countries. It was Lula who had the initiative of promoting the first Summit of South American-Arab Countries, held in Brasília, in 2005, in Brazil. The second summit was held in Doha, Qatar, this year, Since he assumed the presidency, Lula has already visited seven Arab countries: Qatar, Egypt, Algeria, Lebanon, Libya, Syria and the United Arab Emirates.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
