São Paulo – Saudis showed interest in joining Brazil’s sustainable food production program, the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture Livestock and Supply reported following the visit of minister Carlos Fávaro to the Arab country on Sunday (30).
Fávaro was in Riyadh accompanied by a delegation consisting of senators, agribusiness entrepreneurs, and a technical team. The Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil) were part of the group and supported the hosting of corporate meetings.
Fávaro was welcomed by Saudi Arabia’s Environment, Water and Agriculture minister Abdulrahman Al Fadley, and they talked about establishing a working group aimed at organizing and implementing a joint partnership in agriculture, livestock, and agricultural inputs. Pictured above, in the opening photo, the two ministers.
Brazil’s Agriculture Minister is leading the initiative that intends to become the world’s largest sustainable food production program by recovering degraded grazing lands and doubling Brazil’s food output without deforestation. The Saudi minister said his ministry will work for bringing the Saudi private sector into the initiative.
Fávaro was also welcomed at Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company (SALIC), which confirmed its interest in joining the program. The minister met with SALIC acting CEO Mohammed bin Mansour Al-Mousa. They agreed the company will establish and led a second group to continue the talks in the private sector and identify Saudi companies interested in the program.
The project designed by Brazil’s Agriculture Ministry envisages the recovery and conversion of up to 40 million hectares of grazing land in Brazil, which could potentially double the country’s production area without deforestation, thus contributing for the world’s food security, as well as the climate change control by cutting carbon emissions. Fávaro was also received at oil firm Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC).
The minister was accompanied in his meetings by Brazil’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Sérgio Bath. “The main goal of the mission was to present Brazil’s degraded grazing land recovery program to Saudis,” he said. He highlighted the significant delegation that accompanied the minister, with officials of Brazil’s Agriculture Minister, Foreign Affairs Ministry, agricultural research agency Embrapa, state-controlled lender Banco do Brasil, and state development bank BNDES, senators Rogério Carvalho and Irajá Silvestre, and businesspeople.
Businesspeople from Brazil
The private sector officials participating in the delegation had appointments in Saudi Arabia that were focused on business connections. They participated in a breakfast held by the ABCC and ApexBrasil at Brazil’s Embassy in Riyadh, which was also attended by a Saudi free zone and saw talks on agribusiness and investments. The party was welcomed by the embassy’s minister counsellor Rubem Amaral.
The business delegation also had a meeting with King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC) president Fahad Alajlan, where they discussed sustainable agribusiness, biofuels and the United Nations COP28 climate summit to take place later this year in the United Arab Emirates. The head of the Foreign Ministry’s Agricultural Policy Division, Bruno Leite, participated.
“This business mission allowed businesspeople to discover the opportunities, ways to connect to this market, the Saudi market’s needs and desire for Brazilian goods. ApexBrasil is designing a robust plan of how to access and develop more initiatives to further tap into this market together with the private sector and relevant partners in the region like the ABCC,” said Tatiana Riera, CEO of ApexBrasil’s Dubai office for the Middle East, North Africa, and India.
The head of the ABCC office in Dubai, Rafael Solimeo, participated in the meetings. “Saudi Arabia is the Arab world’s largest economy, accounting for 25% of the region’s gross domestic product. In 2022 Brazil exported nearly USD 3 billion worth of goods to Saudis, mostly from agribusiness. It makes a lot of sense that this mission has come to talk to this major client of Brazil that’s Saudi Arabia,” he said.
Both Solimeo and Riera highlighted the time when the mission is taking place, on the same days that a Saudi delegation led by the Arab country’s Investment minister Khalid Al Falih is in Brazil with a large corporate party. “They’re in Brazil seeking to invest and attract investments, and we’re in Saudi Arabia at the same time, also seeking to invest and attract investments,” said Solimeo.
After Saudi Arabia, the delegation will move on this week to the UAE. The visit to the two Middle Eastern countries is part of a broader mission of Brazil’s Agriculture Ministry that has also included South Korea and Japan. The ministry has held a series of appointments for promoting Brazil’s intensified production aiming to attract foreign investments.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
