São Paulo – The mayor of São Paulo, Gilberto Kassab, should be in Lebanon starting on Sunday (1) for a seven day visit. One of the main objectives of the trip is to learn about the program for reconstruction of the centre of Beirut, implemented after the civil war that devastated the country between 1975 and 1990. Kassab is travelling at the invitation of the Lebanese president, Michel Suleiman, whom he should meet.
The idea, according to the São Paulo City Hall, is to collect information about the Lebanese experience, considered successful, for potential application for solution of problems in São Paulo. Initiatives promoted in Beirut may be used in programs for revitalisation of the centre of São Paulo.
"We are going to learn about the revitalisation model used in Beirut, considered a successful case internationally," said to ANBA the municipal secretary of Foreign Relations, Alfredo Cotait Neto, who should be on the delegation. Another member should be the Urban Development secretary, Miguel Luiz Bucalem. "He [Bucalem] should verify what the Lebanese did and see if it is possible to reapply the method," he added.
According to Cotait, one of the projects in which the Lebanese experience may be made use of is the Nova Luz project, which involves the recovery of 225 hectares of degraded areas in the central region of the city of São Paulo.
The centre of São Paulo, the noblest area in the past, has suffered a great process of degradation in recent decades. Despite some efforts for recovery in recent years, several areas of the region still need revitalisation, which depends on viable investment projects.
According to the São Paulo city hall, Lebanese project Solidere, which included the creation of an urban development company by the same name, has up to now resulted in the revitalisation of 191 hectares of the centre of the Lebanese capital, with the total area of the buildings recovered totalling 4.7 million square metres (470 hectares).
The Lebanese are also interested in experience from the capital of São Paulo, so much so that they asked for the presence of the Transport secretary, Alexandre de Moraes, to discuss potential exchange in this area.
Business
Apart from learning about the program, Kassab should also present to the Lebanese business and investment opportunities in the city of São Paulo. There should be a business seminar promoted by the Beirut Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, followed by business roundtables.
According to Cotait, the mayor should travel in the company of 50 businessmen and representatives of sector organisations, among them the president of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Salim Taufic Schahin, and the Foreign Relations vice president at the organisation, Helmi Nasr. The secretary added that many of the businessmen are connected to the building area.
Kassab should also have a meeting with Arab investors organized by Lebanese banker Adnan Kassar, president of the General Union of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture for Arab Countries, an organisation to which the Arab Brazilian Chamber is affiliated. "We are going to invite investors to visit São Paulo," said Cotait.
São Paulo, the largest city and economic hub in Brazil, has almost 11 million inhabitants, and a good share of the population is made up of descendants of Arabs, especially Syrians and Lebanese who started arriving in the country in the late 19th century.
Kassab himself is of Lebanese descent. An engineer and economist, aged 48, he was re-elected mayor of São Paulo last year for a term of four years. Previously he was the deputy mayor of the city, a federal representatives, state representative and alderman.
*Translated by Mark Ament
