São Paulo – International logistics amid the Covid-19 pandemic will be the topic of a webinar to be hosted by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce next Wednesday (22), from 9 am to 10:30 am. The online conference will feature local and foreign, mainly Arab speakers. Simultaneous interpretation into Portuguese and English will be available for viewers in both regions. The focus in logistics is due to concerns over the international shipping of goods at this time.
Arab Chamber president Rubens Hannun explains that the organization is customarily occupied with logistics in Brazilian-Arab trade. “However, this is all the more important right now, since there cannot be any bottlenecks in transportation. We cannot let there be obstacles to the offloading of goods,” he told ANBA. According to him, both ports and in-country logistics must be operational so that trade can continue.
“We wish to discuss, in light of the coronavirus, what are the obstacles, challenges and opportunities we can find in logistics and transportation. There are many food security concerns in different countries, and food security can only be ensured through safe, reliable, permanent logistics,” Chamber secretary-general Tamer Mansour told ANBA. Brazil is a major supplier of food products to Arab countries.
Arab speakers will include AASTMT College of International Transport and Logistics dean Sara Hassan Kamal Elgazzar, from Egypt, and Emirates SkyCargo Products and Business Development vice-president Dennis Lister, from the UAE. Also due to speak is Denmark’s Maersk Line TradeLens (Global Trade Digitization) manager Nicolas Buhmann.
Brazilian speakers will include National Confederation of Transport (CNT) Transport Development coordinator Fernanda Rezende, and the Arab Chamber’s Hannun and Mansour. Hannun will deliver a keynote speech, and Mansour will serve moderator duties.
Arab Chamber Institutional Relations manager Fernanda Baltazar said the purpose of the webinar is to outline present, short- and medium-term perspectives in logistics. Mrs. Elazzar is leading a study on shipping lanes linking South America and the Arab countries. She will give an overview of logistics issues facing the Arab world right now. Rezende represents CNT, which encompasses all sectors of Brazil’s transportation industry and which released the results of a survey conducted with business owners to find how the sector was impacted by Covid-19.
Emirates SkyCargo’s Dennis Lister and Maersk’s Buhmann will discuss bottlenecks in their fields – air and sea shipping –, the outlook for South America-Arab trade when it comes to ensuring steady supplies and the availability of shipping containers, among other subjects. An executive from a Brazilian protein industry company and another from Morocco’s OCP fertilizer company will discuss their experience with logistics in the current scenario, as well as ask questions to the speakers.
Rubens Hannun believes the ongoing debate will also fast-track a medium-to-long-term solution involving direct shipping lanes linking up Brazil and the Arab countries. He said the Chamber has been looking into the subject and is already doing planning alongside the Union of Arab Chambers, at the request of the Arab League.
Tamer Mansour explains that the webinar will also cover the issue of shipping lanes, which can mean more cargo going back and forth between Brazil and the Arab countries at lower costs. “We want to create a work agenda that will culminate in the setting up of a private company to operate in logistics and marine transportation between Brazil and the Arab countries,” he says. According to him, the plan is to eventually have this company branch out across South America.
This is the Arab Chamber’s second webinar since the shutdown began. The first one, on supply chains, was held on April 8, featuring Brazil’s Agriculture, Livestock and Supply minister Tereza Cristina – who touched on logistics issues as well – and Union of Arab Chambers secretary-general Khaled Hanafy.
The webinar was viewed by some 800 people across Brazil and the Arab countries. The Chamber intends to host regularly held webinars for as long as the shutdown continues, in a bid to provide information to Brazilian and Arab companies, thereby helping keep trade going.
Registration is open for next week’s webinar.
Quick facts
Webinar on International Logistics
Challenges and developments of the Covid-19 situation
April 22, 9 am-10:30 pm
Simultaneous interpretation into English and Portuguese available
Register here
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
