São Paulo – The seminar Brazil and North Africa – opportunities for agribusiness and food security is set to occur during February 23th and 24th at the São Paulo State Industry Federation (Fiesp) in the capital São Paulo. The event was originally set to happen in January, but was postponed. The organization is by the Institute Brazil-Africa and government representatives and businessmen will be attending to speak about investment opportunities, rules and demands of North Africa countries.
According to the president of the institute Brazil-Africa, João Bosco Monte, the focus of the seminar is to show that North Africa offers conditions for Brazilian companies to invest and profit.
Brazilian investments were made in countries of the region already and the government promotes some international cooperation actions. According to Monte, the countries of the region hold a positive image of Brazil as partner in agricultural development, however, others countries take bolder actions when investing in the continent. That’s the case with the United States, France, China and Turkey.
“When we came up with the idea of the seminar, we thought of the food production potential when considering the population size, abundance of water and farmland. We thought that if businessmen produce here, why not produce the same there? So, let’s bring them and introduce information about the continent and show the audience the possibilities. Let’s show this for both those that already own some knowledge and those that have none”, says Monte.
The first day of the seminar has been reserved to bilateral meetings. The second will have lectures and panels. The event schedule informs of the participation of ambassador Hadil Fontes da Rocha Vianna, assistant-secretary general of Cooperation, Culture and Trade Promotion of the Ministry of External Relations of Brazil. He will present the lecture The engineering of a new agricultural resolution in Africa: the role of Brazilian producers.
The CEO of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Michel Alaby, will be the moderator of the panel The agribusiness opportunities and promotion of development, which will debate the issues of sugar and ethanol production in North Africa, the investments in agricultural infrastructure and the region’s market.
Other panels will discuss themes such as strategic investments in agriculture, policies for the attraction of investors and funding alternatives to agricultural production.
The Arab countries of North Africa are Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Libya, Tunisia, Mauritania, Somalia, Djibouti, Sudan and Comoro Islands. Last year, Brazil exported US$ 4.8 billion to these countries, a drop of 6.05% over 2013. The main products exported were sugar, meat and maize. The Brazilian imports from the region add up to US$ 4.3 billion, a decline of 14.8% in comparison to the US$ 5.1 billion of 2013. Oil and fertilizers were the main products imported.
Service
Seminar Brazil and North Africa – opportunities for agribusiness and food security
February 23th – bilateral meetings
February 24th – lectures and panels, from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM
Information and registration at http://www.institutobrasilafrica.org/
Participation free of charge
FIESP – Avenida Paulista, 1.313, Cerqueira César, São Paulo – SP
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
