Isaura Daniel*
São Paulo – A group of businessmen from Brazil, led by the Ministry of Foreign Relations, should start today a trade mission in Saudi Arabia. Up to Thursday (24), representatives of companies, banks, organizations and of the Brazilian government will have a series of meetings with Saudi businessmen and authorities with the objective of establishing partnerships and increasing trade with the country.
The companies that participate in the delegation are construction companies Andrade Gutierrez and Odebrecht, trading company Comexport, metal fixture producer Docol, granite and marble industry Granimex, petrochemical company Braskem, Avibras, in the defence sector, and oil company Petrobras. The Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, the Espírito Santo Ornamental Stone Union (Sindirochas-ES), the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES), the Bank of Brazil and the Ministry of Health are also included in the group.
Today meetings are scheduled with the ministry of Oil and Mineral Resources of the Arab country, Ali bin Ibrahim al-Naimi, with the president of the investment agency of the country, Sagia, Amr Abdullah Al Dabbagh, and with the secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Abdul Rahman bin Hamad Al-Attiyah. Tomorrow, apart from business meetings, the group is going to meet with the Saudi minister of Trade and Industry, Hashim bin Abdullah bin Hashim Yamani, and with the chairman of the Board of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Abdulrahman bin Ali Al-Jeraisy.
The oil and civil construction sectors in the country should be the most explored during the mission. Brazilian oil giant Petrobras is one of the companies participating in the delegation with the objective of improving relations with the Saudi oil company, Saudi Aramco, the largest in the world. The president of the Brazilian company, Sérgio Gabrielli, arrived in the Arab country at the end of last week. Financial organizations like the BNDES and the Bank of Brazil, are also participating in the delegation so as to establish partnerships with local banks.
Soon after the mission, diplomats from the Itamaraty are going to meet, on November 26 and 27 in Riyadh, with representatives of the GCC to proceed with talks for a free trade agreement between the Mercosur, whose framework agreement was signed in May, during the Summit of South American – Arab Countries, in Brasília.
At the end of last week, part of the group participating in the mission visited the United Arab Emirates, where they participated in meetings with local businessmen and visited the Big 5 Show, the civil construction sector fair that took place in Dubai between November 16 and 20.
The companies, organizations and banks participating in the mission that sent representatives to the Emirates were Odebrecht, Comexport, Granimex, Bank of Brazil, Docol, Braskem, Sindirochas and the BNDES, according to the Itamaraty.
*Translated by Mark Ament
