São Paulo – Egypt wants to expand its trade relations with Brazil and is betting on the push that can be provided by the free trade agreement signed with Mercosur when it goes into effect. This would lend more competitiveness to Egyptian products in the Brazilian market, helping to even an unfavorable trade balance to the Arab country. That’s the assessment of Alaa Roushdy, Egypt’s new ambassador in Brasília. The treaty was signed in 2010, but it’s not yet into effect because it hasn’t been ratified by the house of representatives of all of the member countries of the South American bloc.
Roushdy visited the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce in São Paulo this Wednesday (20th) and was welcomed by Marcelo Sallum, president of the organization, Michel Alaby, CEO, Ramez Goussous, senior advisor of Institutional and International Relations, and Tamer Mansour, manager of Government Relations of the Chamber. The ambassador was accompanied by Mohamed Elkhatib, Egypt’s trade consul in São Paulo, and Yasser Hegazy, trade vice-consul in São Paulo.
“The free trade agreement between Egypt and Mercosur will be vital and pivotal. Three countries already ratified it, with Brazil being the first and followed by Uruguay and Paraguay. Now we are waiting for Argentina to ratify it. With this, we can put the agreement into effect and benefit from it”, said the diplomat. The text was ratified by Egypt in January 2013.
Roushdy considers that the political and economic relations between Brazil and Egypt are very strong and that the global economy’s slowdown makes the cooperation between the South axis countries very important.
“I mean South-South cooperation in the private and public sectors. That’s what we talked about [at the Arab Chamber meeting], how to increase trade, economic relations. Currently, the trade balance is pending too much to Brazil. We want to try to close this gap bringing exports from Egypt to Brazil, and also taking investments from Brazil to Egypt and [bringing investments] from Egypt to Brazil”, he pointed out.
To the ambassador, there are several industries in Egypt that could expand their presence in Brazil. “The petrochemical industry, some food products such as garlic, citrus fruits that Brazil imports and Egypt exports, fabrics and clothing, things like this. For this the agreement with Mercosur needs to go into effect, because, a lot of times, the barriers are big and sometimes it’s very expensive for Egyptian business owners to come to the Brazilian market. Thus, once the agreement is on and the tariffs are lowered, we have a good chance to compete”, he assessed.
The diplomat believes that, for Brazilians, investing in Egypt can be very beneficial. “Egypt has free trade agreements with Middle East and Africa countries, particularly Western Africa. This is a point of access [to these markets]", he said.
Egypt’s geographical position, giving access to the African, European and Asian continents, is also something that can be strategic to Brazilian businesses, assessed Roushdy.
“Egypt’s central position is an advantage when one considers the distance from Brazil and the navigation time [of cargo to the region]. To have investments in Egypt and be able to operate from there is a lot easier”, he emphasized, reminding that Brazilian companies already operate in the country, such as construction company Camargo Correa, through the cement manufacturer Amreyah Company, and Marcopolo, manufacturer of bus bodies.
To increase relations with Brazil, Roushdy is counting on the support of the Arab Chamber. “The Chamber is very important not only to Egypt, but to all the Arab countries and their embassies. The Chamber has been helping us in a lot of ways, cooperating with us in the access to investment, trade and economic opportunities, as well as in how to implement them and how to increase the volume of economic cooperation”, he emphasized.
Roushdy also pointed out that Egypt was the fifth most chosen tourism destination by Brazilians in the last holiday season. According to him, the level of security in his country is not lower than in other tourist destinations.
“The situation in Egypt, I would say, is as any place in the world. We had ‘accidents’ in Paris and in other places. There had been shootings in the United States. Unfortunately, there is terrorism in a lot of places. The situation in Egypt is that there are a lot of tourists there and they keep coming. The security is taken very seriously by Egyptian authorities, with the highest level of security so visitors can enjoy the magnificence of nature and historical places in Egypt”, he said.
Born in 1967, Roushdy has a degree in Economy. The diplomat, who took over the ambassador post in Brazil in November of last year, already worked in Egypt’s embassies in Washington, United States, Rome, Italy, and the Permanent Mission of Egypt to the United Nations, in Geneva, Switzerland.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
