Tunis – Brazilian mining company Vale do Rio Doce is competing for phosphate exploration and production in Tunisia, a country that manufactures large amounts of the input used in the fertiliser industry. If it wins the contract, the company is going to take on a project with an estimated value of between US$ 2 billion and US$ 2.5 billion. The information was disclosed this Thursday (29) by the minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Miguel Jorge, during a seminar for businessmen, in Tunis, the third leg of the trade mission to North Africa organised by the ministry.
The mine that Vale and other companies are competing for is one of the largest in the world, according to the minister. He also said that if the company wins, it is going to export the entire production to Brazil, which has a strong demand for imported fertilisers.
Jorge said that the company has also committed to transferring the entire exploration and production technology to the Arab country. "We, as emerging countries, can no longer accept projects without knowing their content," he said, in a press conference. "We must seek a more productive relation between countries. That is what cooperation is about," he asserted. All of the North African nations seek to attract companies that work with knowledge transfer.
The minister also said that the company intends to make the deal viable using its own funds, and that from 18,000 to 20,000 jobs may be generated in the country. Vale, according to Jorge, also committed itself not to import labour force from Brazil. "Brazil is a large importer of phosphate, therefore this project is of great interest to the Brazilian government as well," he said.
Early in the morning, Jorge had a meeting with the Tunisian prime minister, Mohammed Ganoucchi, and delivered a letter from president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to his Tunisian colleague, Zine El Abdine Ben Ali, that makes mention of the subject.
Partnership
In the seminar, the Brazilian minister gave a presentation on the Brazilian economy, saying, for example, that investment from the most dynamic segments in the country should grow 15% a year. To Tunisian journalists, he underscored that president Lula specifically called for the expansion of trade relations with the Arab and African countries. Jorge also believes in the possibility of transferring technology to Tunisia in the fields of agriculture and food production in general.
"I hope that we may come to establish a win-win partnership," said the president at the Tunisian Union of the Industry, Trade and Craft (Utica), Hedi Djalani, to Brazilian and Tunisian businessmen.
The Tunisian minister of Industry and Trade, Afif Chelbi, stated that the size of the Brazilian delegation "is proof of the interest in this partnership." He also said that, as a consequence of the country’s foreign investment attraction policy, approximately 2,000 foreign companies are present in the country, and all of them benefit from fiscal incentives stemming from trade agreements with the European Union and other economic blocs. The Brazilian delegation has more than 100 members, with 92 companies represented.
The president at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Salim Schahin, highlighted that the organisation has developed a series of activities turned to promoting relations with Tunisia. Besides trade, bi-national events have been held in the fields of culture, healthcare, sports and tourism.
In the area of trade, he mentioned a cooperation agreement between the Chamber and Utica; another one between the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex) and its Tunisian counterpart, the Cepex; another one between the Brazilian Association of Shoe and Leather Components Industries (Assintecal) and a similar organisation in Tunisia; the promotion of business missions and participation of Tunisian businessmen in fairs in Brazil; and the establishment of the Brazil-Tunisia Business Council, which will have its fifth meeting this year, in Brazil. "We have invited all of the businessmen to attend the event in order to expand our relations," he stated.
On Friday, the Brazilian delegation will be in Casablanca, Morocco, the last leg of the trip.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
