S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 A Brazilian business delegation, headed by the minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Miguel Jorge, should arrive this Sunday (25) in Tripoli, Libya, for the first leg of a six-day trip to North Africa that will also include Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. <\/p>\n
The aim of the mission, according to information supplied by the ministry, is promoting bilateral trade and investment. Jorge will be accompanied by representatives of nine government organisations and 92 businessmen and directors of sector organisations, such as the president of Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Salim Taufic Schahin. <\/p>\n
A total of 10 sectors of the economy will be represented in the delegation: agribusiness, energy, mining, informatics, capital goods, automotive, logistics, textiles and shoes, construction and defence. In addition to meetings of government authorities, there should be seminars on trade and investment opportunities, and business roundtables among businessmen. <\/p>\n
The trip counts on the support of the Brazilian foreign office (Itamaraty) and of the Arab Brazilian Chamber. Schahin is going to emphasize the importance of the relation between Brazil and the Arab countries. \u201cWe must implement more and better trade, tourist and cultural relations,\u201d he said. He also intends to underscore the economic importance of Brazil, which often enjoys little recognition in the Arab world. <\/p>\n
According to Schahin, another relevant issue that should be tackled is the creation of direct air and sea routes between the two regions, so as to shorten the distances. Currently, the only direct flight between Brazil and the Arab world is the Dubai-S\u00e3o Paulo route, operated by Emirates Airline. <\/p>\n
He also wants to call attention to the advantages of promoting an increasing number of trade missions, so that businessmen from the two regions may get to know the potential of bilateral deals; highlight the importance of Arab culture to the world, and to Brazil in particular; and talk about the services provided by the Arab Brazilian Chamber. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt is important for Brazil to strengthen commercial ties with North African countries, especially because our export basket is very much restricted to commodities, plus beef and chicken. It is important to display the country’s real industrial capacity, as well as our construction engineering industry,\u201d stated the secretary general at the Chamber, Michel Alaby, who will also be on the mission, as will be the Marketing vice president at the organisation, Rubens Hannun. <\/p>\n
According to Alaby, the trip should raise the awareness of Brazilian businessmen of opportunities for economic partnerships with companies from the region. He also said that companies must insist on the follow-up of contracts signed by participating in trade fairs and in other missions. <\/p>\n
Coming together <\/b> <\/p>\n
The region has been the target of special attention Brazilian government and companies in recent years, with the rising trade, investment and signing of agreements. Miguel Jorge himself went to Morocco in 2007 and, before him, the then-minister of Development, Luiz Fernando Furlan, organised a trade mission to Algeria in 2005. <\/p>\n
President Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva has already been to the region twice, and chancellor Celso Amorim is a constant interlocutor with the authorities there. In the area of trade promotion, every year the Arab Brazilian Chamber organises or participates in different events in North Africa, such as fairs and business missions. Two examples are the Tripoli International Fair and the Algiers International Fair. <\/p>\n
These diplomatic and entrepreneurial contacts have already resulted, for example, in the start of negotiations between the Mercosur and Morocco for a trade agreement. In the first half of last year, during a tour of the region, chancellor Amorim proposed the launch of a similar initiative with Algeria. <\/p>\n
Some Brazilian companies are physically present in North Africa. Such is the case with Randon, real estate developers Odebrecht, Queiroz Galv\u00e3o, and Andrade Gutierrez, and state-owned oil company Petrobras, among others. <\/p>\n
The four countries that will be visited had a good growth average in the last four years and, despite a forecast of a certain slowdown due to the international crisis, they should continue to grow above the global average in 2009 and 2010. <\/p>\n
Countries <\/b> <\/p>\n
In Libya, for instance, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 7.13% in 2008, according to estimates by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It is the fourth largest nation in Africa and has the eighth largest oil reserves in the world. The oil industry is the main economic activity, answering to 95% of exports and 25% of the GDP. <\/p>\n
In the area of trade, Brazilian exports to the region totalled US$ 373 million in 2008, growth of 56% over 2007. The main items shipped were ores, meats and sugar. On the other hand, Brazil imported the equivalent to US$ 1.4 billion from Libya, growth of 40%, with the export basket basically comprised of oil and derivatives. In recent years, the country has become an important supplier of the commodity to the Brazilian market. <\/p>\n
Algeria, in turn, is the second largest country in Africa, and production of oil and gas is its main economic activity. The sector answers to 98% of exports and 46% of the GDP, which grew 3.2% last year, according to estimates by the Economist Intelligence Unit, the economic analysis arm of the same group that publishes British magazine The Economist. Agriculture is also an important area, answering to 10% of the GDP. <\/p>\n
Exports from Brazil to Algerian reached US$ 632.5 million last year, growth of 26% compared with 2007. The main products sold were sugar, meats, soy oil, grain \u2013 basically maize and wheat, vehicles, auto parts and dairy products. <\/p>\n
Imports of Algerian products totalled US$ 2.5 billion, growth of 11.7%. Oil and derivatives are by far the main items in the basket. Brazil traditionally has a large deficit in the trade balance with Algeria. <\/p>\n
Tunisia, the smallest of the four countries to be visited, has a very different economy from the first two. Even though the country has oil and gas reserves, it is the services sector, especially tourism, that answers to the largest share of the GDP, 40%. Agriculture holds a share of 13% and fertiliser manufacture is also an important activity. The Tunisian economy grew 4.7% last year, according to estimates by the EIU. <\/p>\n
Brazilian sales to Tunisia totalled US$ 221.2 million in 2007, growth of 30.7% over the previous year. The main products shipped were sugar, vegetable oils, grain, coffee, aluminium and meats. Imports of Tunisian products totalled US$ 216.4 million, growth of 78.8%. Fertilisers were the main item in the basket. <\/p>\n
Morocco is one of the world\u2019s leading producers and exporters of fertilisers, and a large supplier to Brazil. The services sector answers to 50% of the GDP, especially due to tourism. Other important areas are agriculture and fishery. The country\u2019s economy grew 5.9% in 2008, according to estimates by the EIU. <\/p>\n
Brazilian exports to Morocco totalled US$ 511 million last year, growth of 16.7% over 2007. The main products shipped were sugar, soy, vehicles, auto parts, grain and soy oil. Imports totalled US$ 1.14 billion, growth of 115%. Fertilisers answered to a significant share of that total.<\/p>\n
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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