São Paulo – Diplomat Osmar Chohfi (pictured above) began earlier this year a new tenure as president of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC), after leading the entity in 2021 and 2022. Reelected in January by the ABCC Board of Directors for another two years, Chohfi started the new phase bent on taking the institution to even greater heights of excellence, particularly in digitization and the halal market, what he plans on doing alongside the directors he chose to accompany him.
“For me, it was a sense of achievement being trusted by the ABCC Board of Directors, who reelected me for the 2023-2024 period. It was a demonstration that that there is faith in the work of the board I’ve chaired. This makes me not only flattered but ben on reaching new levels of excellence at the ABCC. I’m certain the directors that accompany me will help me build a solid foundation to reach the goals,” he said.
The entity will be headed by Chohfi with Administrative vice president Daniel Hannun, Foreign Trade vice president William Adib Dib Júnior, International Relations vice president Mohamad Orra Mourad, Communication & Marketing vice president Silvia Antibas, and treasurer Nahid Chicani. The management team consists of 12 statutory officers, as well as executive directors and the current secretary-general & CEO Tamer Mansour.
Chohfi said that one of his goals will be to establish and lead the technological modernization movement that has taken place in the ABCC. The institution created the Ellos platform, which uses blockchain and is making digital part of Brazil-Arab trade information processing.
Another project that the Chohfi administration will see as strategic is Halal do Brasil, developed by the ABCC and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil) to make more Brazilian companies manufacturers of halal products, which are fit for Muslim consumption.
There is another series of initiatives that will be the focus of the ABCC president in this phase that has just started, such as the cooperation with other Arab chambers of commerce in South America; the Arab Latinos project, of memory recovery about the contribution of the Arab diaspora in Latin America; the promotion of the ABCC international offices in Dubai and Cairo; and other activities. “These are projects with ambitious goals that will require us to work hard, but I’m excited,” Chohfi said.
The ABCC leader said he will have the support of a very competent board of vice presidents, some of whom had accompanied him in first term. Chohfi highlights that for the first time the institution will have a woman as vice president, Silvia Antibas. But he pointed out that the board already had women in its board and that the ABCC has in place a women’s committee, Wahi – Women Who Inspire, which has partnerships with other groups like the Women from Brazil. “By mapping out and creating a collaboration pact with the Brazilian women, our goal is bringing them closer to Arab female entrepreneurs,” he said.
The vice presidents that accompany Chohfi in the current management are Arab descendants, who had already been part of the board of the institution and aimed at contributing with the ABCC work with their expertise as both professionals and active members of the Arab community in Brazil. See below who the vice presidents and the treasurer are and what are their expectations for the following two years.
Mohamad Orra Mourad
“I feel extremely honored to be, as International Relations vice president, part of the ABCC board, an entity that has worked relentlessly for over seven decades to bring Brazil and the Arab countries closer together, not only in trade activities but also cultural and social activities, which are equally important. The following two years will be obviously full of challenges as I see it as the closure of a cycle that started in the previous administration, when the ABCC not only boldly chose to diversify its fields of operation but also sought to modernize to accompany the new global trends of an increasingly digital, sustainable and inclusive world. Thanks to hard work carried out in previous administrations, a work developed very seriously, transparently and reliably, we’re now a reference for the Brazilian public at large in Arab-related matters, and vice versa,” said Mourad, the businessman who holds position of International Relations vice president.
Nahid Chicani
“I feel very glad to be part of the ABCC Board under the helm of ambassador Osmar Chohfi. The following two years will see great challenges, with large investments in information technology project modernization to help our partners streamline foreign trade,” said Chicani, who’s a layer holding the position of treasurer.
Silvia Antibas
“I feel very honored to be elected as the ABCC’s Communication & Marketing vice president. It’s a great challenge, not only for being the first women in the vice presidency but for being part of such a high-quality team. I’m very glad for having contributed for a trade-oriented institution that understands the importance of communication and culture as a fundamental value for dialogue, respect and… even business! The ABCC become one of the most reliable institutions in the Arab and Brazilian community, which further increases our responsibility,” said historian Antibas, who holds the position of Communication & Marketing vice president. She was the recipient of the 2019 UNESCO-Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture.
Daniel Hannun
“It’s a really great honor being able to contribute to the ABCC project, which has striven for over half a century to bring Brazil and the Arab countries closer together in the institutional, cultural and trade aspects. The challenges for the following years are huge, involving traditional trade, expanding the range of products and services traded between Arab countries and Brazil, and the technological modernization that will facilitate export processes,” said Hannun, an investment executive with a degree in Economy and a postgraduate degree in Executive Management, who will hold the position of the ABCC’s Administrative vice president.
William Adib Dib Júnior
“It was a reason of great pride and satisfaction receiving the invitation to succeed dr. Ruy Cury, who had held the position of Foreign Trade vice president of the ABCC with such brilliance, especially in a year that’ll bring so much new things, with significant chances in both the domestic and the international landscape. Under the guidance of president Osmar Chohfi, we hope to meet the expectations of the market with a focus on development and boosting Brazil-Arab transactions,” said lawyer Dib, who took over as Foreign Trade vice president.
The ABCC’s Statutory Board is also made up of directors Adel Auada, Arthur Jafet, Alessandra Frisso, Claudia Yazigi Haddad, Fábio Kadi, Lourenço Chohfi Neto, Mohamad Abdouni Neto, Renata Maron, Riad Naim Younes, Ruy Carlos Cury, Sami Roumieh, and William Atui.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
