São Paulo – Brazil’s president Michel Temer said on Twitter that he got a call from Saudi Arabian king Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud this Monday (23). According to Temer, the Saudi monarch expressed “great interest in Brazil at this time of major economic changes.”
“We agreed to enhance Brazil-Saudi Arabia economic ties, in a drive for more trade, more investment, more jobs,” Temer tweeted.
Saudi Arabia is Brazil’s leading Arab trade partner. The first quarter of this year, however, saw sales from Brazil to Saudi drop 25.6% year-on-year to USD 579.4 million, the Brazilian Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services reported. The top-selling items were poultry, sugar, defense industry material, beef and soybeans.
Saudi sales to Brazil came out to USD 632.8 million, up 38.6% year-on-year. Oil and oil products comprised the bulk of sales, followed by plastic, fertilizers, organic chemicals and aluminum.
The state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA) broke news of the phone call this Tuesday (24), reporting that the heads of state discussed cooperation and how to nurture it, especially in economic affairs.
The king told his cabinet of ministers about the conversation at a meeting this Tuesday in Riyadh’s Al-Yamanah Palace. Salman said he also placed calls to Argentina’s president Mauricio Macri and to prime ministers Justin Trudeau of Canada and Erna Solberg of Norway.
SPA said the cabinet has confirmed that next Saturday, the king will launch Al-Qiddiya a new entertainment, sports and culture cluster to be built west of Riyadh as part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plan, designed to loosen the country’s strict moral code and diversify its economy.
Commission
Last week, Brazil’s Senate approved the establishment of a Brazil-Saudi Arabia parliamentary commission, to be presided over by senator Ana Amélia (affiliated with the Rio Grande do Sul chapter of political party PP). Its vice president will be the project’s author, senator and vice president Fernando Collor.
The Senate’s news outlet Agência Senado quoted Collor as saying a Saudi delegation will be in Brazil this week. He said their agenda will include talks for purchasing KC-390 military cargo aircraft by Embraer, among other subjects.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
