Alexandre Rocha, special envoy*
alexandre.rocha@anba.com.br
Brasília – The government of Morocco wants greater presence of Brazilian companies in the country. This was one of the issues discussed yesterday (30) by the Moroccan minister of Economic and General Affairs, Rachid Talbi El Alami, at a meeting with the secretary general of the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Relations, Samuel Pinheiro Guimarães, at the Itamaraty Palace (Brazilian foreign office headquarters), in the Brazilian capital Brasília. "He showed great interest in a greater presence of Brazilian companies in Morocco," said to ANBA the director of the African Department at Itamaraty, Fernando Jacques de Magalhães Pimenta, who attended the meeting.
According to Jacques, fostering the business is also an interest of the Brazilian government. "Especially in Africa, we must encourage the participation of Brazilian companies in regional development projects," said the diplomat.
He highlighted the fact that some Brazilian companies already have businesses in the African continent, such as Petrobras, Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, construction companies Andrade Gutierrez, Camargo Corrêa, and Norberto Odebrecht, Randon, a manufacturer of highway implements, and Marcopolo, a manufacturer of bus bodies. Randon even owns an assembly line in Morocco.
El Alami mentioned that Brazil can use his country as a platform for exports, because Morocco has trade agreements with the European Union, the United States and other countries in the region. He recalled that trade between the two countries is already at an important level. "Especially in Africa, where Brazil has very large trade balance surpluses or deficits with several countries, whereas with Morocco, the balance is a little more even," said Jacques. Last year, Brazilian exports to the Arab country yielded US$ 391.5 million, and imporst, US$ 331.2 million.
This may also happen in the air transportation field. According to Jacques, Brazilian airline Ocean Air will offer flights to Nigeria and Angola. During a meeting held earlier with the executive secretary at the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Ivan Ramalho, El Alami discussed the possibility of Royal Air Maroc inaugurating a flight to Brazil. "We discussed the creation of a route as soon as possible," the minister told ANBA. Late last year, executives from the Moroccan were in Brazil to assess the local airline market.
With Ramalho, the minister also discussed the summit of ministers in the economic field and businessmen from South America and Arab countries, to be held between May 21 and 24 in Rabat, the capital of Morocco. "The Brazilian minister of Development (Eduardo Jorge) will attend the summit, accompanied by businessmen," said El Alami. During the event, a business lecture will be held, wherein the secretary-general at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Michel Alaby, will talk about business and investment opportunities in Brazil.
Tangiers
Another subject dealt with by minister El Alami at the Brazilian Ministry of Development and at Itamaraty, and earlier on at the ministries of Tourism and Social Development, was the candidacy of the Moroccan city of Tangiers to host the Expo 2012 International Exhibition. The Arab country wants the support of Brazil. The exhibition site will be selected by the 98 member-countries of the Bureau of International Exhibitions (BIE).
"He said he counts on our support a lot, and we will assess their candidacy very carefully. Brazil holds its partnership with Morocco in high esteem, in the bilateral realm and also regarding relations with Arab and African countries," said Fernando Jacques. The minister followed his schedule accompanied by the Moroccan ambassador to Brasília, Farida Jaïdi.
Also yesterday, El Alami was received at the Brazilian House of Representatives, and attended a dinner offered by the Moroccan embassy to Brasília, which also counted on the participation of the president of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Antonio Sarkis Jr., and the former president at the organisation, Paulo Sérgio Atallah.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
