Doha – The number of participants registered for participation in the South America-Arab Countries Business Forum exceeded the expectations of the organisers. The event is scheduled for Sunday (29) and Monday, in Doha, Qatar, and is promoted by the Qatari Businessmen Association (QBA). "Bringing together 100 businessmen from each region was our target, but 260 registered, which shows that people are pleased with the forum," said to ANBA the economic advisor at the QBA, Adnan Steitieh.
The event takes place in the sidelines of the 2nd Summit of South American-Arab Countries (Aspa), to take place on the 31st, also in Doha. According to Steitieh, there is an optimistic climate between Arab businessmen with regard to the forum, also due to the fact that it is boosted by the political presence of the heads of state and government of the countries involved. Apart from the Aspa, the Summit of the League of Arab States is scheduled to take place on the 30th.
"We are going to expand the bridge established in 2005, to simplify the meeting of people from both regions," stated Steitieh, referring to the first Aspa, which took place in Brazil in May 2005, and to the trade forum that took place soon after it, in São Paulo, organised by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce. According to him, those present should include representatives of several segments of the economies of both regions.
One of the participants is the director general of the Jordanian Businessmen Association (JBA), Ali Yousef. He hopes, as is the case with Steitieh, that the talks and business meetings should open "excellent opportunities". "Jordanian businessmen look at the economies of South America with admiration and hope to gain experience in several sectors," he said. "We believe that there is great variety of opportunities in trade and investment," he added.
Yousef pointed out that, to the Jordanians, there are chances for business in the pharmaceutical and food, information and technology, tourism, building, energy and agriculture industries.
In the same lines, Steitieh, said that in Qatar the sectors that are in the limelight are oil, gas and other industrial sectors that demand great volumes of energy, civil construction, tourism, higher education and technology.
The QBA businessman added that, in the point of view of the Arabs, the South American countries, especially Brazil, offer possibilities in the areas of agriculture and livestock, industry in general, mining, ornamental stone and state-of-the-art technology, like the production of commercial aircraft.
The first day of the event should be turned to a seminar with talks by authorities and specialists discussing the economies of both regions, among them the president of the Arab Brazilian Chamber, Salim Taufic Schahin, and the organisation’s secretary-general, Michel Alaby.
Crisis
The international financial crisis should be one of the themes of the debates of the Business Forum as well as of the Aspa. Both Steitieh and Yousef said that their countries have not been hit very hard, but that there is concern with regard to what may take place in future. In this respect there is special interest in expanding trade and investment to keep the economies operating.
In the case of Qatar, Steitieh said that the Public Budget for the 2009-2010 fiscal year should be announced in the near future and that the value of funds for investment should be greater than in the previous fiscal year, when the total was around US$ 100 billion, despite the crisis and the lower oil prices.
He also said that, apart from the constant increases in production of gas, which guarantees new sources of revenues, the country has increased its foreign currency reserves, which may cover possible budget needs. The priority sectors for investment in the next fiscal year, according to the economist, are infrastructure, education and health.
After the forum, proposals by businessmen should be handed to the heads of state and government. In Yousef’s evaluation, they should include recommendations regarding lower customs tariffs, simplification of transport of goods, incentives to trade and investment and the offer of financing.
"We also hope that negotiations for a free trade agreement be sped up," said Yousef. The Mercosur, the bloc that includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, is negotiating treaties with Jordan, Morocco, Egypt and with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a group made up of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Oman.
The forum should include businessmen from Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Palestine, Algeria, Morocco, Sudan, Yemen, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay. The second day of the meeting should be turned to business roundtables.
*Translated by Mark Ament
