São Paulo – The governor of the state of São Paulo, Geraldo Alckmin, welcomed this Tuesday (7) at government seat Palácio dos Bandeirantes the United Arab Emirates ambassador to Brazil, Hafsa Abdulla Mohamed Sharif Alulama. The courtesy meeting was the ambassador’s formal introduction to the governor, the government’ s press office said.
Also in attendance were the special adviser of the state for International Affairs, Ana Paula Fava, the secretary for Energy and Mining, João Carlos de Souza Meirelles, state congressman Pedro Tobias (a member of party PSDB), the chargé d’affaires of the United Arab Emirates Consulate in São Paulo, Mohamed Al Dhaheri, and the president of the Federation of Muslim Associations in Brazil (Fambras), Mohamed El Zoghbi.
The governor and secretary Meirelles told the ambassador about the possibilities for investing in São Paulo, especially in renewable energies. They also discussed a recent trip by students from a school in the city of Taquarituba to the UAE, via a sustainability project that had them competing for the Zayed Future Energy Prize – according to the ambassador, many Brazilian students get grants in the Arab country.
“My job is to enable our trade relations to grow bigger and bigger,” said Alulama.
The woman ambassador confirmed that the UAE minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is coming to São Paulo in March to open the new UAE Consulate General headquarters in the city. Fava, the adviser, remarked that the emirate of Sharjah will be honored during the upcoming Book Biennial in 2018.
After speaking with Alckmin, the ambassador was due to meet with São Paulo city mayor João Dória at the City Hall. He has a trip to Dubai and Abu Dhabi scheduled in a few weeks.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
