São Paulo – On an official visit to Brazil, Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad Minister Nabil Ammar launched the Commercial and Consular Office of the Embassy of the Tunisian Republic in Brazil in São Paulo on Thursday (11). The office is on Avenida Paulista and is expected to optimize trade promotion activities in Brazil and provide consular assistance to the Tunisian community.
The foreign minister also participated in the Brazil-Tunisia Seminar in the head office of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) in São Paulo, and spoke with journalists, expressing warmth with which he welcomes the rapprochement with BRICS member Brazil, the resumption of Tunisian fertilizer exports to Brazil, and the opportunities for the olive oil made in his country.
During the office launch, he said Tunisia has worked hard to facilitate services for Tunisian citizens living abroad. He said his country wants a relation with these Tunisians that go beyond consular services to include cooperation. “Tunisians have a very good image overseas and could help the country,” he said before unveiling the plaque of the new office. The minister thanked the support from the ABCC to the opening of the office.
To ANBA, the foreign minister highlighted the fact that Brazil is a member of the BRICS – an organization comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and most recently Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates – and the good relations it has with the countries in the bloc. He said his country and Brazil share points of view regarding the global stage and want cooperation. “We countries of the South are alike, we can work more closely together,” he told ANBA.
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The minister also spoke of the Tunisian willingness to export more fertilizers to Brazil. Tunisia provided as high as 200,000 tonnes of fertilizesrs to Brazil in 2023 but the volume hasn’t exceeded 100,000 tonnes since. Last year saw only 30,000 tonnes shipped, and this year no fertilizer has been shipped to Brazil yet.
Ammar said the economy of his country has been recovering after ten difficult years, and Tunisia tends to resume fertilizer exports to Brazil, as it has been working towards that and wants to sell more. The minister, who traveled to Brazil accompanied by a business delegation, highlighted the presence of the fertilizer industry in the mission.
Asked if Tunisia can supply olive oils to Brazil at lower prices compared to Europe, as Brazilians have faced soaring olive oil prices in the supermarkets, the minister said his country is ready to sell more olive oils to Brazilians. This is an industry where Tunisia has advanced as a supplied to Brazil, with 690 tonnes shipped year to date through June and a significant participation of Tunisian olive oil brands as exhibitors in this year’s food industry exhibition APAS Show in São Paulo.
Economic Forum
At the seminar in the ABCC, the minister described to the audience the excellent relationship Tunisia shares with Brazil in the economic political and cultural domains and presented his country to the attendees, highlighting the relevance of the human resources in Tunisia, its peaceful standing, and the opportunities it can bring to Brazilian companies in Tunisia itself and its neighboring countries.
Chaired by the minister, the event in the ABCC disclosed a series of new developments like the reactivation of Brazilian of the Tunisian-Brazilian Business Council, the signing of a letter of intent between the Central Pharmacy of Tunisia and the Brazilian Industry Association of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (Abiquifi), the delivery of the reedition of Al Muqaddimah by Ibn Khaldun, debates with representatives from the Tunisian private sector, and the presentation of Ellos, an ABCC platform that is digitizing the customs clearance between Brazil and Arab countries.
Office
The office was launched by Nabil Ammar and the ambassador from Tunisia to Brazil, Nabil Lakhal, who led the initiative. During the ceremony, after addressing the expectations for the relationship with the Tunisian community abroad, the minister said an event will be held in Tunisia next August for this group, so that people know each other and can showcase what they have to offer to their country of origin. “What brings Tunisians abroad together is the love for their country,” he said.
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Translated by Guilherme Miranda
