São Paulo – The Arab market is already an important trade partner with Brazil and business should continue to grow. The statement was made by the Brazilian minister of Agriculture, Wagner Rossi, this Monday (26th) in São Paulo. “President Lula holds the Arab countries in very high esteem. Our trade relations are increasing and will surely develop a lot, because we are complementary economies,” he said.
“They already supply us with fertilizers, and as food producers and exporters, we are fully able to export even more to them,” he claimed. According to the minister, over the last few years, trade relations between Brazil and the Arab market have grown a lot. “Just check the trade balance figures,” he said.
Brazilian agribusiness exports to the Arab countries increased by 17.2% in the first half of 2010 over the same period of 2009, having gone from US$ 2.9 billion to US$ 3.4 billion. The Arab countries accounted for 9.9% of that total.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Algeria were the leading markets in the region. The most shipped products to the Arabs were sugar and meat, whose combined sales accounted for 84% of Brazilian agribusiness sales to the Arabs, at US$ 2.9 billion.
Last week, minister Rossi met with the Algerian minister of Foreign Affairs, Mourad Medelci, and with the Jordanian minister of Agriculture, Said Al-Masri, in the Brazilian capital Brasília.
“There is great interest in cooperation plans, and we are already preparing to increase our presence in those markets,” he said. “Aside from the commercial aspect of food exports, there is interest in the signing of cooperation agreements between the Embrapa (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation) and research agencies in the two countries, which is already underway,” said the minister.
Rossi explained that the Arab countries also want to export to Brazil. The Algerian minister mentioned olive oil and fisheries. The Jordanian, in turn, talked about dates grown in the country. “We are developing new joint actions, and will continue to grow,” he said.
Strong agriculture
Rossi stated that Brazil has a strong agricultural economy, and exports to over 200 countries. According to him, the 2010/2011 crop has begun with record-high production results. Examples include the second crop of maize, which reached 147 million tonnes, the soy crop, which totalled 68 million tonnes, and the record-high sugarcane crop, at 660 million tonnes, which ensured sugar and ethanol production.
The minister underscored that the volume grew without an increase in planted area. “In the last few years, planted area in Brazil increased by 25%, whereas the production volume rose by around 150%,” he said. Presently, agriculture covers one fourth of the country’s territory, and approximately 100 million degraded hectares are subject to recovery.
This year, the Crop Plan has hade 16 billion reals (US$ 9 billion) available for encouraging agricultural incentives. A share of that figure, 3.15 billion reals (US$ 1.8 billion), was allocated to good economic practices, which include recovery of degraded areas, formation of consortia between agriculture and cattle farming, direct planting, and forestry planting.
European Union
Regarding his recent visit to Brussels, in Belgium, the minister claimed that the meeting that he had with 40 local importers was very informative for both sides, but that the resumption of relations between Brazil and European Union countries should take place in the medium-to-long term, because some countries in the region are still experiencing a crisis.
“They are still making some adjustments, they are likely to reduce agricultural subsidies. That, in turn, should make Brazil more competitive, and the country may start supplying Europe again,” he stated.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
