{"id":213617,"date":"2019-05-08T07:00:48","date_gmt":"2019-05-08T10:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/?p=213617"},"modified":"2019-06-30T11:58:01","modified_gmt":"2019-06-30T14:58:01","slug":"lebanese-minister-bets-on-diaspora-to-fuel-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/lebanese-minister-bets-on-diaspora-to-fuel-trade\/","title":{"rendered":"Lebanese minister bets on diaspora to fuel trade"},"content":{"rendered":"

S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 Lebanon\u2019s minister of State for Foreign Trade Hassan Mourad travelled to Brazil for meetings with authorities, business leaders and delegates from the Lebanese descendant community. \u201cThe goal of the visit is to discuss Lebanon\u2019s free trade agreement with the Mercosur, and to try and reach other bilateral trade agreements with Brazil,\u201d he told ANBA after a meeting with the\u00a0Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce<\/strong><\/a> board Tuesday (7) in S\u00e3o Paulo.<\/p>\n

Talks have been ongoing since 2014 for the Arab country and the South American bloc<\/a>, but the agreement is yet to be completed. Mourad declined to give a forecast of when the deal is expected to come through, but said he\u2019d scheduled the trip for two months prior to Brazil taking over the Mercosur\u2019s rotating presidency \u2013 which will take place during the summit meeting Santa F\u00e9, Argentina next July.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Hassan Mourad: Brazilian authorities support cooperation with Lebanon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAll of the Brazilian authorities I spoke with have confirmed that they will support Lebanon,\u201d said Mourad. On Sunday (6), for instance, he met with Brazil\u2019s vice president Hamilton Mour\u00e3o in Bras\u00edlia.<\/p>\n

The minister is betting on the strength of the Lebanese-descendant community in Brazil to fuel trade. \u201cAnother reason we have come to Brazil is to connect Brazilian and Lebanese businesspeople,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mourad himself is part of this diaspora.\u00a0He was born in S\u00e3o Paulo, 1976, a son to Brazilian-naturalized Lebanon-born parents<\/a>. In 1980, his family relocated to Lebanon, but the minister \u2013 who speaks Portuguese \u2013 said he usually travels to Brazil twice each year. The Arab Chamber\u2019s vice president of Administration, Mohamed Orra Mourad, who sat in the meeting, is his cousin.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust like there\u2019s a Lebanese community here in Brazil, there\u2019s a Brazilian community in Lebanon,\u201d he said. \u201cKibbeh and sfiha are Brazilian foods, and coxinha<\/em> and brigadeiro<\/em> are Lebanese delicacies,\u201d he quipped about the popularity of typical snacks in both countries.<\/p>\n

Even though the agreement is yet to be reached, the minister believes bilateral trade could be made stronger by the diaspora. \u201cOur intention is to carve out a market in Brazil for Lebanese products, especially for the Lebanese community, and the broader Arab community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Last weekend saw the Lebanese government host a food fair at S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s Clube Atl\u00e9tico Monte L\u00edbano<\/a>. Two Lebanese companies \u2013 Cortas Food and MSallem<\/a> \u2013 are showcasing their goods in the Arab Chamber\u2019s pavilion at\u00a0Apas Show<\/a>, a supermarket industry show taking place this week in S\u00e3o Paulo.<\/p>\n

Mourad stressed that he would like the Arab Chamber\u2019s support in fostering trade. \u201cI have great faith in the work done between myself, as minister of Trade, and the Arab Chamber,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Initiatives<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Fernanda Baltazar discussed figures regarding the Arab Chamber and bilateral trade<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Arab Chamber president Rubens Hannun pointed out that the organization has been working to increase Brazil-Lebanon trade over the last few years. \u201cThe results are coming, trade numbers tend to go up and there\u2019s lots of potential,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Brazil exported USD 270 million worth of goods to Lebanon last year, up 2.5% from 2017. Lebanon exports to Brazil climbed 41% to USD 27.5 million.<\/p>\n

The Chamber\u2019s international business executive Fernanda Baltazar remarked, however, that sales remain to a great extend limited to meats, coffee and livestock from Brazil, and fertilizers from Lebanon.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrazil consumes Arab products, and it wants to consume higher value-added Arab products. Apart from the fact that there\u2019s an Arab descendant community in Brazil, Brazilians are very fond of Arabs,\u201d said Hannun.<\/p>\n

He also said the Chamber is planning to arrange a trade mission to Lebanon next September to seek out deals, especially in infrastructure. The minister disclosed that a Brazilian company is currently building what will be the biggest dam in Lebanon.<\/p>\n

Mourad said Lebanon is creating special economic zones to bring in foreign investment, and that the country is a gateway to markets including Syria, Jordan and Iraq.<\/p>\n

Lebanon\u2019s consul to S\u00e3o Paulo, Rudy El Azzi, who visited the Arab Chamber alongside the minister, said the possibility of having a standalone Lebanese area in the 2020 Apas Show is being looked into.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The consul revealed a project to create a cooperative to import goods from Lebanon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Azzi went on to say that a project will be presented to establish a cooperative to import Lebanese goods to Brazil during the\u00a0Lebanese Diaspora Energy<\/a> conference next month in Beirut. The idea is to build scale in order to lower prices.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be like a full-blown Lebanese mall in S\u00e3o Paulo, a products fair and cultural space 365 days a year,\u201d the consul asserted. The project is expected to rely on incentive from the Lebanese government and the involvement of investors from Lebanon and the diaspora.<\/p>\n

Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rodrigo Rodrigues\/Arab Chamber<\/div>\n
Rodrigo Rodrigues\/Arab Chamber<\/div>\n
Rodrigo Rodrigues\/Arab Chamber<\/div>\n
Rodrigo Rodrigues\/Arab Chamber<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lebanon\u2019s Brazilian-born Foreign Trade minister of State Hassan Mourad believes in the strength of the immigrant and descendant community when it comes to fostering business and agreements. He made a visit to the Arab Chamber this Tuesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1454,"featured_media":213584,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[439,339,2384,2533,268,3077,2559,8535,2267,8536,522,8537,28214],"class_list":{"0":"post-213617","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business-opportunities","8":"tag-arab-chamber","9":"tag-lebanon","10":"tag-apas","11":"tag-apas-show","12":"tag-camara-arabe","13":"tag-diaspora","14":"tag-fernanda-baltazar","15":"tag-hassan-mourad","16":"tag-immigration","17":"tag-mohamed-orra-mourad","18":"tag-rubens-hannun","19":"tag-rudy-el-azzy","20":"tag-rudy-el-azzy-en"},"wps_subtitle":"Lebanon\u2019s Brazilian-born Foreign Trade minister of State Hassan Mourad believes in the strength of the immigrant and descendant community when it comes to fostering business and agreements. He made a visit to the Arab Chamber this Tuesday. ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1454"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213617\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}