Cairo – The secretary-general & CEO of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC), Tamer Mansour (pictured above), said, given the advantages Egypt has from trade agreements and geographical location, there are great opportunities for Brazilian investment in the Arab country. Mansour spoke at the 5th FingerPrint Conference “Forum for Promoting Investment Opportunities in the Public and Private Sectors,” which took place on November 22 and 23 at the Nile Ritz-Carlton hotel in Cairo.
He said Egypt is a strategic market for products entering markets in Africa and the Middle East, in addition to European countries, which have a free trade agreement with the Arab nation. The executive spoke on the possibility of transforming Egypt into a logistics hub for Brazilian products, especially cereals and grains, building silos to store these products throughout the year and supply them both to Egypt and the surrounding regions.
Mansour explained Brazilian companies have successful investment experiences in the Arab world, especially in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Sudan, which increases investors’ interest also to enter other markets in the region. He mentioned the Brazilian experience of producing poultry protein in Saudi Arabia and the UAE and said it contributed to the increase in halal exports to East Asian markets.
The secretary-general also spoke in his lecture about the sizeable Brazilian mission at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP27), which took place earlier this month in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. About 200 people went to COP27 representing Brazil’s public and private sectors, confirming the country’s interest in the Arab region, according to Mansour.
In a special panel on food security, Mansour recalled the Brazilian experience, which led the country to achieve food security, and called on Arab countries, led by Egypt, to take advantage of it and achieve these goals and move from the condition of importers to exporters. “Likewise, 50 years ago, Brazil imported every foodstuff it consumed, but now it has become one of the biggest players in the global market for animal protein products, grains, and cereals,” he said.
Mansour added the last fifty years had had significant political and economic transformations in Brazil, which have contributed to the progress of infrastructure and legislation, making Brazil the most prominent food source in the world. According to him, one of every four dishes consumed in the world comes from Brazil. He recalled the country did not export wheat but has been supplying 40% of Saudi Arabia’s needs for this product. He also spoke of Brazil’s growth in cotton production and as a world supplier of halal products.
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
