Marina Sarruf*
marina.sarruf@anba.com.br
São Paulo – The president and executive director at the Emirates Group, owner of the Emirates Airline company, Ahmed Bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, met today (11th) in the afternoon the governor of the southeastern Brazilian state of São Paulo, José Serra, and the mayor of the capital of the state, Gilberto Kassab, accompanied by the president at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Antonio Sarkis Jr. Serra highlighted that the new São Paulo-Dubai direct flight, operated by the company, will make it easier to transport passengers and cargo to Asian countries.
The governor also talked about the state of São Paulo, the business opportunities, and he also asked jokingly if Emirates would like to sponsor the Palmeiras football team, since the company already sponsors some European clubs.
At the city hall, Kassab spoke of the integration between Brazil and the United Arab Emirates, and that with the flight, cultural and commercial relations should increase even further. "Dubai is presented to São Paulo as a model city, an example of modernity," the mayor said to Al-Maktoum.
Kassab also talked about the greatest challenges faced by the city, such as vehicle traffic, education, and public health. "We work with a US$ 10 billion budget. New York, for instance, which has the same size as São Paulo, works with a budget five times higher," said the mayor. Al-Maktoum stated that Dubai faces the same traffic problems as São Paulo, and that the emirate is investing US$ 15 billion in infrastructure.
The municipal secretary of foreign relations, Alfredo Cotait, who also attended the meeting, said that São Paulo, like Dubai, is a hub, but to South American countries. "We want to help Emirates have more and more passengers, and are at their disposal to help. I consider it important for people to travel to Dubai, but I would also like people to come and get to know São Paulo, because they will be impressed by the city," he said.
Al-Maktoum claimed that the number of passengers to São Paulo with surely increase with the flight. "There is more to Brazil than just football," he stated.
Both the governor and the mayor talked about the importance of the Arab community in São Paulo and the large number of descendents, especially of Syrians and Lebanese. Al-Maktoum said that large Syrian-Lebanese communities also exist in Dubai. According to Sarkis, president at the Arab Brazilian Chamber, the meetings were very positive. "The fact that they made room in their schedules attests to the importance that they are giving to this new phase with Arab countries, so that there is greater trade exchange and also attraction of investment," he said.
Also present at the meetings were the Brazilian ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Flávio Albuquerque Sapha, the ambassador of the Emirates to brazil, Yousuf Al-Usaimi, the foreign trade vice-president at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Salim Schahin, the vice-president of global commercial operations at Emirates, Ghaith Al Ghaith, the vice-president of commercial operations for the Americas, Nigel Page, and the director-general for Brazil, Ralf Aasmann.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
