Riyadh – It is not from now that Brazil exports executives, as is the case with the global president of the Ranault-Nissan group, the Brazilian Carlos Ghosn, and the president of the Central Bank, Henrique Meireles, who was the global president of Bank Boston. But now the country also exports public managers to apply practices that are successful in Brazil abroad.
This is the case with Adalberto Netto, who has been living in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for one year and three months, and has been working for specialists in strategy and planning in the National Industrial Cluster Development Program, connected to the Ministry of Industry and Foreign Trade.
Netto’s mission is to establish in the Arab country a system of clusters turned to the automotive, plastics and packaging, metal, durable consumer goods and building material sectors. For such, he uses the experience he has acquired working at the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae), an organisation with strong operation in the establishment and management of clusters throughout Brazil.
“The government of Saudi Arabia is creating the program to attract investment to these productive chains, with differentiated investment,” he said. “The idea is to build the clusters with foreign investment,” he added.
At this moment, according to him, several international companies are evaluating the potential of the country and “discovering that Saudi Arabia has a very large market, and that one way of reaching it is through investment.” Apart from that, the country may serve as a platform for exports to the entire Middle East and North Africa and also to other regions, like India, Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe.
A great comparative advantage of the Saudi economy, according to Netto, is the availability of energy at low prices, as the country is a great producer of oil and gas. One of the criteria for selection of industries participating in the program is the fact that all use energy in an intensive way.
He added that receptiveness to the project has been “very good” between companies in the United States, Europe, Japan and Asia in general, and that there is also interest by Brazilian companies. Netto added, however, that the deals are great and for long-term maturity.
The opportunity for the 39-year-old business administrator arose when he was seeking work in London, England, through head-hunters. Apart from his experience at the Sebrae, one of the factors that favoured Netto’s choice was that he had worked at Petrobras and, therefore, has knowledge of the oil and gas area.
Married and a father of two kids, Netto brought his family to live in Riyadh and says he has nothing to complain about. “Adaptation was peaceful,” said the manager, who lives in a condominium for foreigners.
After spending over one year in the country, he came to agree that the Arabs are very similar to the Brazilians with regard to personal treatment.
*Translated by Mark Ament
