São Paulo – A group of 70 small- and medium-sized companies should participate in the next mission of the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Trade to Lebanon, Egypt and Iran, in April. According to Mauro Couto, the special advisor to minister Miguel Jorge, the ministry’s intention in promoting the trip is to diversify the basket of export products. “Currently, 90% of Brazilian exports are in the hands of 1,800 companies,” says Couto. The advisor represented Miguel Jorge on this Monday (22nd), in a preparatory meeting for the trip, at the head office of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce.
The mission members, which met at the Arab Brazilian Chamber headquarters, include companies in the foodstuffs, medical equipment, machinery, construction, auto parts, biotechnology, chemistry, steel and energy sectors. This should be a business mission with a format similar to others that the ministry has been carrying out. Couto prefers not to make any projections, but has told the businessmen attending the meeting that during the last mission promoted by the ministry, to three African countries – Angola, Mozambique and South Africa – immediate deals totalled US$ 11.5 million.
For this year, the Ministry of Development has planned 12 missions to 25 different countries. The one that will go to Lebanon, Egypt and Iran will be headed by the minister himself, and counts on backing from the Arab Brazilian Chamber. “Miguel Jorge is making a continual effort, ever since he came into office, to reduce costs for Brazilian companies to place their products on non-traditional markets,” said Couto. Bilateral trade between Brazil and the three countries that will be visited in the next trip does not amount to US$ 3 billion, according to him. Those nations’ share of Brazilian foreign sales is lower than 2%.
At the meeting, the businessmen were able to learn in greater detail about the markets and the current situation of the countries that will be visited. “I was deeply impressed with what I saw in Tehran, a city with 15 million inhabitants, traffic congestions, crowded restaurants and supermarkets, lots of people shopping, open stores until late at night,” said Couto of a trip that he made to the the capital of Iran early this year. The head of the Middle East II Division at the Brazilian foreign office (Itamaraty), Carlos Leopoldo Gonçalves de Oliveira, claimed that Egypt and Lebanon are shop windows to the region.
“Those two countries are multipliers of trade efforts. If a Brazilian initiative is successful, then it will be multiplied in the remain countries in the region,” said Oliveira. According to the diplomat, Lebanon and Egypt are countries that set trends in the Middle East. He also underscored the fact that Egypt is the most populated country in the Arab world, that it is at once African, Arab and Islamic, that it dominates the Suez Canal, and that it is open to the West. As for Lebanon, says Oliveira, Brazil has become quite close with the country, as a consequence of immigration ties. Oliveira calls attention to the fact that the National Congress comprises several Lebanese descendents.
Other speakers at the seminar included the Egyptian ambassador to the Brazilian capital (Brasília), Ahmed Hassan Ibrahim Darwish, and the adviser to the Iranian embassy in Brasília, Hekmatollah Ghorbani. Darwish wondered why is Egyptian investment in Brazil and Brazilian investment in Egypt so low, and underscored the advantages of investing in production in his country. He mentioned the several existing trade agreements, with regions such as the Arab world, the European Union and Africa, and which may benefit companies that eventually establish themselves in the country. Ghorbani spoke, among other matters, of his country’s interest in cooperating with Brazil.
The seminar also featured leaders such as the secretary general of the Arab Brazilian Chamber, Michel Alaby, and the head of the Central Asia Division of the Brazilian foreign office, Ricardo Luiz Ribeiro da Silva. The mission will take place from April 11th to 17th and counts on the participation of the Brazilian foreign office and the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex), in addition to the Arab Brazilian Chamber.
A good business environment
“The three countries that will be visited by the Brazilian mission are now in a phase of (post-crisis) economic recovery. The businessmen are going to be faced with a very favourable environment for doing business,” said Rodrigo Iglesias, of the Apex’s Trade and Competitive Intelligence Unit. Iglesias presented data from a study on the three countries that was conducted by the agency. According to the study, the growth rate of the Egyptian economy increased from 2003 to 2008: it grew by 3.2% in 2002/2003, and reached 7.23% in 2007/2008. The growth forecast for 2009/2010 is 4.7%.
Iran, which is strongly affected by the price of commodities, slowed down 2003/2004, but got back to a good pace in 2006/2007. The crisis led economic growth down to 1.5% in 2008/2009. The economy of Lebanon, in turn, had a good rate and then slowed down. “Brazilian exports to Egypt and Lebanon increased continually over the last few years, and the trend is for the pace to be maintained,” he said.
And when the environment is favourable, the next step is to prepare good negotiation strategies. “Negotiating is in the Arab blood,” said the secretary general Michel Alaby during the presentation that he gave to the businessmen, underscoring that patience, perseverance and negotiation skills are musts when it comes to closing a deal with an Arab businessman. Alaby discussed Arab habits and customs, and clarified doubts of the Brazilian businessmen that will go on the mission. "Nothing replaces personal contact or being face-to-face, and it is very important to establish a relationship of trust, which will certainly lead to medium- and long-term deals," he said.
*With the collaboration of Geovana Pagel. Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
