São Paulo – This Monday (13th), in São Paulo, the Brazilian minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Miguel Jorge, stated that the results of the latest business mission promoted by his ministry to the Middle East, in the week before last, were "excellent."
"We made important contacts with government officials and sovereign funds, and the businessmen made good business, good deals in all countries, " said Jorge at a press conference prior to a luncheon held in his honour at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce.
The Brazilian delegation, comprising representatives of more than 70 different companies, travelled to Damascus, in Syria, Kuwait City, Doha, in Qatar, Riyadh, in Saudi Arabia, and Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates.
He said, however, that the contacts made during the mission must be followed through with. "It is important for us to keep up this type of work, because you do not get to sell by going somewhere just once, you get to sell by going back, making new contacts, looking the people in the eye. This is particularly true of the Arab world, where a significant share of business is done on the basis of trust," he stated.
Investment
With regard to the sovereign funds, Jorge claimed that the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia), the world’s largest sovereign fund, intends to send a delegation prospecting for investment opportunities in Brazil in the first quarter of 2011.
"We have worked really hard to attract investment from the sovereign funds, in particular into the field of infrastructure. We had many talks in this respect [during the mission]," said the minister in an address over luncheon.
He added that personal support from the president of the Arab Brazilian Chamber, Salim Taufic Schahin, as well as from the organization itself "has been crucial to this very successful mission that should bring important results for Brazil in the medium and long terms."
Later on, after luncheon, he stated that the Brazilian market needs more long-term credit lines, but there is a scarcity in this type of financing from Brazilian commercial banks, and most of this burden lies on the shoulders of the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES).
The sovereign funds in Arab countries are interested precisely in long-term investment. Schahin stated that, during his and Jorge’s meeting with the Adia board, in Al Ain, in the interior of Abu Dhabi, the Arab executives expressed "real interest" in long-term investment in Brazil. Areas of interest mentioned at the meeting include hydroelectric plants, ports, airports, highways, and oil exploration at the Brazilian pre-salt layer. "They are always seeking long-term investment," said Schahin.
The Adia signed a memorandum of intention with the BNDES to prospect for joint investment in Brazil and abroad. According to Schahin, the organization wants the Arab Brazilian Chamber to help with the search for opportunities in the country as well.
Government priority
The minister also spoke on the expansion of trade relations with the Arab world during the eight years of president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s administration. "It was very rewarding to take part in this effort, as a minister and as an Arab descendent," he declared. He stated that establishing closer ties with the Arab world was one of the foreign policy priorities during Lula’s term in office.
The president of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce claimed that over the last four years, during which Jorge was the minister, Brazilian exports to the Arab world "have doubled again." According to him, the minister put the tradition of Arab travelling salesmen to use in Brazilian foreign trade. From January to November this year, Brazilian sales to the Arabs reached US$ 11.3 billion.
Schahin added that the Arab Brazilian Chamber expects the administration of president elect Dilma Roussef, who will be inaugurated on January 1st, to maintain the policy of establishing closer ties with Arab countries. Jorge replied that he is "certain that the new government will give full attention to relations with the Arab world."
Prior to leaving the office, the minister will attend the Mercosur Summit, in Foz do Iguaçu, late this week, during which framework agreements will be signed between the South American bloc, Syria, Jordan and Palestine, which Lula recently recognized as a state. Such treaties will mark the start of negotiations for free-trade agreements.
Tribute
Regarding the tribute paid by the organization, Jorge said: "It is an honour for me, especially as a son of Lebanese, to be paid tribute." And he quipped: "Even though I am a bit like contraband, because I am half Arab and half Italian."
Jorge will be replaced in the ministry by the former mayor of Belo Horizonte, the capital of the state of Minas Gerais, Fernando Pimentel. He stated that now he will go to Bahia to take the 40-day rest to which he is obliged upon leaving the government. "I am going to Bahia and I don’t know what to do. I am in a very weird situation: for the first time in my life I am leaving [a job] without having another, therefore I will need to adapt to this situation, which is really very odd," said the minister, who is a journalist, a former director of the O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper, one of Brazil’s largest, and an executive for multinational corporations such as Volkswagen and Santander.
In his address, Schahin stated: "We want you (Jorge) to spend more time in this house (the Arab Brazilian Chamber), which is the home and temple of street merchants."
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
