Doha \u2013 The Brazilian president Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva said today (15th), at the closing of the Brazil-Qatar business seminar, in Doha, that both countries are in the most favourable moment to developing bilateral business. \u201cDespite our cultural differences and distinct histories, I am certain that the outlook for our economic and commercial relations has never been so good,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n
Lula underscored that both countries have exited the international financial crisis stronger than before, and have good growth prospects for the coming years. In that respect, the Qatari prime minister, Hamad Bin Jassem Al Thani, claimed that the country\u2019s budget for the 2011\/2012 biennium \u201cwill be the highest ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Brazilian president added that Brazil expects to generate 2.5 million new jobs in 2010 and that the economy \u201cwill grow sustainably.\u201d Lula declared that Brazil\u2019s resilience to the crisis proved that the country\u2019s strategy of diversifying its trade partnerships was successful. The establishment of closer ties with the Middle Eastern nations is in keeping with that logic, according to him.<\/p>\n
Lula highlighted the fact that trade between Brazil and Qatar increased tenfold from 2003 to 2008, but that \u201cin order to keep that pace, diversification will be needed, by means of production-oriented partnerships in strategic fields.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stated that \u201cpossibilities are already being looked into in high value-added industries such as machinery, electronic devices, and automobiles.\u201d According to Lula, Qatar is already familiar, for instance, with the potential of the Brazilian aeronautical industry, as military pilots in the country receive training in Supertucano aircraft, manufactured by Embraer.<\/p>\n
To the president, Brazil may be a gateway for Qatar to enter South America, and vice versa. \u201cYou, businessmen, play a crucial role in this strategic alliance that we want to build, and will build,\u201d he claimed.<\/p>\n
Lula said that the governments are already doing their share by \u201cbuilding trust\u201d among the two countries. He also called attention to the fact that Qatar Airways inaugurated a direct flight between Doha and S\u00e3o Paulo in June. \u201cWe have no reason not to invest in entrepreneurial contacts and tourist flow among the two countries,\u201d said he. The Qatari prime minister added that there are \u201cgreat opportunities for building a strategy [of economic partnership] on very solid foundations.\u201d<\/p>\n
The seminar was organized by the two governments, the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce<\/b> and the Qatari Businessmen Association (QBA). \u201cWe are certain that through the efforts of our governments, alongside the private sector and with support from the Arab Brazilian Chamber, we will realize the full potential of our relations,\u201d stated the president of the Chamber, Salim Taufic Schahin.<\/p>\n
Politics<\/b><\/p>\n
After the business meeting, Lula was welcomed by the emir Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani at his palace (Amiri Diwan), in Doha. The two heads of state met and spent most of the time discussing the region\u2019s political affairs. On Sunday, Lula will go to Iran to address, among other matters, the country\u2019s nuclear program.<\/p>\n
The two countries also signed agreements for culture, sports, tourism and communications. Partnerships were also established between the Arab Brazilian Chamber, the QBA, and the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry.<\/p>\n
Before leaving the country, this evening, Lula will watch the first half of the final match of the Emir\u2019s Cup, which is the local football championship. The match will be Umm Salal versus Al Rayyan. The latter is coached by the Brazilian Paulo Autuori.<\/p>\n
During the business meeting, Lula underscored that Qatar is a bidder to host the FIFA World Cup 2022. The bid was submitted yesterday to the International Federation of Association Football (Fifa). \u201cCount on Brazil for this endeavour,\u201d stated the president.<\/p>\n
* Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The statement was made by president Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva. He made the closing address at a business seminar in Doha. Lula was welcomed by the Arab country\u2019s emir, Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1454,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[106],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-34668","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-foreign-affairs"},"wps_subtitle":"The statement was made by president Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva. He made the closing address at a business seminar in Doha. Lula was welcomed by the Arab country\u2019s emir, Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34668","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=34668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34668\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}