Alexandre Rocha*
alexandre.rocha@anba.com.br
São Paulo – The secretary general at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Michel Alaby, gave yesterday (03) a talk about the Mercosur, the economic bloc that includes Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela, on the last day of the 39th Congress of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture for Arab Countries, in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. "They asked me to give a presentation about the Mercosur, its advances, challenges and the current stages of negotiations with the countries of the Gulf, Morocco and Egypt," stated Alaby by telephone to ANBA. The intention of the representatives at the chambers is to make contact with experiences that may be used in the implementation of the Greater Arab Free Trade Zone.
"They were very interested, especially with regard to the volume of trade between the countries within the Mercosur," stated Alaby. In his talk, he said that trade between Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay was just US$ 3.6 billion in 1990, but last year the total reached US$ 18.5 billion, being Argentina the second main Brazilian trade partner, losing only to the United States.
Another point presented by the secretary general at the Arab Chamber was the integration of productive chains within the bloc, especially in the automotive, energy and petrochemical industry sectors. "It is not enough just to seek trade, it is also necessary to seek productive integration, otherwise there may be an imbalance in exports and imports," he declared.
He recalled that the free trade agreement between the Mercosur and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) should be concluded up to the end of June of this year. The GCC includes Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Oman. This week the Emirates were visited by one of the presidents of the Mercosur, the Uruguayan Tabaré Vasquez.
Alaby was sought by representatives of chambers of commerce of Jordan, Tunisia, Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq interested in information about the Mercosur. "they were very interested in the Treaty of Assuncion. There must be a legal basis for the bloc to operate in a better manner when considering companies," he said. The Treaty of Assuncion, signed in 1991 in the capital of Paraguay, was the beacon for the creation of the Mercosur. Last year Venezuela also entered the bloc.
Research
Also yesterday, according to Alaby, foreign trade technicians at the General Union of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture for Arab Countries presented a research with businessmen in various nations in the region.
There it was confirmed that 80% of the foreign trade in the Arab world is with Europe, either as product origin or destination or through European intermediaries. On the first day of the meeting, in turn, business leaders present showed the need for the region to diversify their trade partners, especially in the direction of Asia and Latin America, not just as destinations and origins of products, but also as distribution centres.
The research shows that 60% of the businessmen point at bureaucracy as a bottleneck to business, 45% stated that the visa process is an impediment, that 45% of the foreign trade operations in the region are done manually, making greater automation necessary, and that 55% of the Arab companies are of small or medium size, with between 5 and 50 employees.
When faced with this picture, one of the conclusions of the meeting, according to Alaby, was the existence of excessive state intervention in the Arab economies, except for some countries like the Emirates and Qatar, and the need for privatisation as an instrument for economic opening. "I promised to forward some Brazilian legislation on the matter, especially with regard to Public-Private Partnerships, to be used as a possible model for presentation to the governments," stated Alaby.
Apart from the representative of the Arab Chamber in Brazil, representatives of organizations in Argentina, the United States, Belgium, Malta and France were also present.
*Translated by Mark Ament
