São Paulo – Qatari ambassador to Brazil, Ahmad Mohammed Ali Mohamed Alshebani, met on Sep. 26 with Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) President Osmar Chohfi and Secretary-General and Vice President of International Relations Mohamad Mourad at the institution’s headquarters in São Paulo. This was his first visit since taking over the Arab country’s embassy in Brasília in August 2023.
During the meeting, Chohfi, Mourad and Alshebani discussed the commercial potential that can be explored between the two countries. In 2023, Brazil exported USD 363.9 million to Qatar, which sent USD 698.5 million worth of goods to Brazil. Brazil’s main exports were chicken meat, iron ore, welded pipes, and oil. Qatar, in turn, primarily sent fertilizers and petroleum oils.
While presenting the commercial ties between the two countries and commenting on Brazilian companies with a presence in the Gulf country, the ABCC’s director of institutional relations, Fernanda Baltazar, noted that the companies are from diverse sectors of the economy, such as iron ore producer Vale and meat producers.
Possibilities for more business with Qatar
Alshebani said that companies from his country are interested in doing business with Brazil and that this opportunity needs to be explored. Chohfi said that the institution’s goal is to help promote trade exchanges between the two countries. He mentioned the possibility of holding a Brazil-Qatar seminar in 2025 to connect companies and government representatives from both nations. In addition to exports and imports, both agreed that mutual investments can and should be explored.
During the meeting, Chohfi, Mourad and Baltazar presented Alshebani with the EasyTrade digital certification system for export documents. Through this platform, exporters can obtain product certification for export more quickly, traceably and sustainably, as the process does not require the issuance of physical documents. Chohfi mentioned there is an opportunity to adopt this system for exports to Qatar.
During the meeting, the promotion of culture was also discussed, with the ABCC aiming to eventually establish a physical version of its virtual project, Arab House, an environment dedicated to promoting Arab arts, cuisine, and identity in Brazil. The meeting was attended by the ABCC’s institutional relations advisor, Bassel Abou Latif, and the consular advisor of the Embassy of Qatar in Brasília, Ahmed Abdelkareem.
Read more
Qatar makes progress in establishing green economy
Qatar’s industrial production rises by 6%
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
