São Paulo –Sudan wants to guarantee its growth with investment in agriculture. The plans of the Arab-African country in the area were detailed on Friday (6) by the minister of Agriculture of Sudan, Al-Zubair Bashir Taha, while visiting the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, in São Paulo. According to Taha, the greater agriculture is one of the strategies of the country to fight the global economic crisis. Sudan is a producer of oil and the prices of the commodity dropped greatly in recent months.
The minister stated, in an interview to ANBA, that Sudan has established partnerships with countries in the Gulf and in Africa, in the agricultural area. Investors from several countries, in fact, are already planting in Sudan and the government of Sudan is interested in expansion of this movement. The target of agricultural growth is also aimed at making Sudan an important supplier in a world concerned with food safety.
According to Taha, his country wants a partnership with Brazil in the agricultural field, with the supply of machinery and equipment for plantations, as well as technology for the cultivation of products and preparation of the land, among others. In the seminar at the Arab Brazilian Chamber, there were around 40 people, most businessmen in the area of technology and agricultural machinery. They had the opportunity of presenting their companies and speaking a little about their products to the Sudanese authority and his team.
Taha invited businessmen to participate in the mission that the minister of Agriculture of Brazil, Reinhold Stephanes, promised to promote to the Arab country. The Sudanese minister was met with Stephanes last week, in Brasília. It was the Brazilian minister, in fact, who invited Taha to Brazil, during a mission to Sudan, late last year. This is the first time that Taha comes to Brazil and also to South America, according to him.
Sudan currently has between 35% and 40% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) connected to Agriculture. The country produces food like wheat, maize, sesame seeds, sunflower, fruit and vegetables, wood, meats and sugarcane. Sudan also wants to start producing rice and soy, according to Taha. The minister added that there are great tracks of land available in his country, as well as water resources necessary for plantation.
The local government promoted a study of the most appropriate areas for each plantation in the country, presented by Taha to the Brazilian businessmen in São Paulo. The minister recalled that taxes on agriculture have been reduced – and even cancelled in some cases – and there is no maximum limit for agricultural investment in the country. "Our currency has been stable for the last five years," he said.
Late this month, an ethanol mill equipped with machinery supplied by Dedini, a Brazilian company in the area, should be inaugurated in Sudan. During his visit to Brazil, minister Taha also visited the company, which is the world leader in machinery for the sugar and alcohol sector. In the Arab Brazilian Chamber seminar and in other meetings, Taha was accompanied by the ambassador of Sudan to Brazilian capital Brasília, Omer Salih Abubakr.
Further partnerships
Abubark also spoke about the Sudanese agricultural revitalisation plan. The ambassador also discussed the possibility of partnerships between Brazil and the Arab country in the area of phosphates. "Lula said that Brazil needs phosphates and Sudan has many phosphate reserves," said Abubark. According to the minister, one of the targets of Sudan, at the Summit of Arab-South American Countries, to take place in Qatar this month, is to discuss partnerships in the phosphate area with Brazil.
The secretary general at the Chamber, Michel Alaby, also spoke at the seminar, opened by the Marketing vice president at the organisation, Rubens Hannun. Alaby addressed the areas in which trade between Brazil and Sudan may grow, like exports of Sudanese gum Arabic, spices and leather. Trade between both countries is favourable to Brazil, which exports to the Arab country from machinery to eggs and meats.
Taha received a plate from the Arab Brazilian Chamber, from the hands of the chairman of the Higher Board of Administration at the organisation, Walid Yazigi, and also participated in a luncheon, at the organisation, together with the Brazilian businessmen.
*Translated by Mark Ament