Curitiba \u2013 This Monday (4th), the Council of Arab Ambassadors to Brazil started a four-day visit to the state of Paran\u00e1, in southern Brazil. In the morning, the diplomats from Middle Eastern and North African countries participated in a workshop for businessmen at the headquarters of the Federation of Industries of the State (Fiep, in the Portuguese acronym), in the capital Curitiba. \u201cThese closer ties with Arab countries are important because they promote business diversification, and we are business-oriented,\u201d said the Fiep vice president Rommel Barion.<\/p>\n
He said closer commercial ties between Paran\u00e1 and the region are being developed since 2006 through a partnership between the Fiep and the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce<\/b>. The Arab Brazilian Chamber is backing the ambassadors\u2019 visit and its CEO Michel Alaby is travelling with the delegation. Alaby informed that exports from Paran\u00e1 to the Middle East and North Africa amounted to US$ 503 million from January to April, and imports reached US$ 54.5 million.<\/p>\n
The dean of the Council of Arab Ambassadors and Jordanian ambassador to Brazil, Ramez Goussous, stressed that several Arab countries are going through reforms that will \u201cturn the region into a great place to invest in.\u201d \u201cThere cannot be economic development without political development,\u201d he said. The so-called Arab Spring caused changes in the regimes of nations such as Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen, and spurred political change in others, such as Morocco, Algeria, and Jordan.<\/p>\n
Goussous emphasized that out of a trade flow of US$ 25 billion between Brazil and the region in 2011, Paran\u00e1 accounted for US$ 1.8 billion. He added, however, that business needs to move beyond exports and imports and include a higher volume of investment.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany Arab countries offer one-stop-shop systems to eliminate any barrier to investment and provide legal safety to investors,\u201d said the dean. \u201cWe have the opportunity to strengthen our relations in various segments,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Alaby gave some examples of Brazilian companies that invest in the Arab world and vice versa. One such company is Cofat, a Tunisian enterprise that plans on opening a plant in the metropolitan area of Curitiba in 2013 to manufacture wire harness for cars. The company had been considering and negotiating the plant for years, but now it is finally coming to fruition.<\/p>\n
Similarly, the Iraqi ambassador to Brazil, Baker Fattah Hussen, invited \u201call of the companies from Paran\u00e1 to participate in the reconstruction\u201d of his country. He said the Iraqi economy grew by 6% last year and that there are many open projects, especially in construction and oil. The diplomat added that Iraq\u2019s current oil output is 2.5 million barrels per day, but the country wants to reach 5 million by 2014.<\/p>\n
Along similar lines, the Algerian ambassador Djamel Eddine Bennaoum informed that his country is implementing a major state-funded development project and that there is keen interest in cooperating with other nations, especially in areas where there might be technology transfers. \u201cDeveloping countries need to cooperate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The Sudanese ambassador Abd Elghani Elkarim said he had already been to Paran\u00e1 three times. \u201cIt is time for people from Paran\u00e1 to visit us too,\u201d he claimed. He explained that Brazilian agribusiness companies are active in his country, but that he is yet to see delegations from Paran\u00e1 travel to Africa and the Arab world. \u201cLast year, we imported US$ 100 million worth of agricultural equipment from the Piracicaba region (in the state of S\u00e3o Paulo),\u201d he said. \u201cThe state of Paran\u00e1 could be our partner in bean, soy and poultry production,\u201d he added. He mentioned the example of the Mato Grosso do Sul state-based group Pinesso, which is involved in agriculture in Sudan.<\/p>\n
Tourism<\/b> <\/p>\n
The Palestinian ambassador Ibrahim Alzeben, in turn, declared that the economy of his country is developing in spite of the Israeli occupation, and suggested that local tourism operators should tap further into the potential of the so-called Holy Land, which also includes destinations in Jordan and Egypt. \u201cReligious tourism is a key sector in Palestine,\u201d he said. \u201cThrough economic development, that \u2018world-class headache of the world\u2019 (the situation in the region) will gradually sort itself out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The workshop was attended by the state secretary for Tourism, Faisal Saleh, who has Lebanese grandparents. He suggested a schedule of actions to foster bilateral relations, such as trade show for the Arab countries in Foz do Igua\u00e7u, the state\u2019s flagship tourism destination, and home to a significant share of the local Arab community. <\/p>\n
Goussous insisted on tourism promotion. \u201cBrazilian tourists do no travel to the Arab world; they did not travel before the Arab Spring, and they do not travel now that it has passed.\u201d Likewise, the Kuwaiti ambassador Yousef Abdulsamad said many Kuwaiti tourists will visit the far-away Australia, but few will visit Brazil. \u201cI would like them to come to Brazil more often, I would like them to come to this beautiful state, but there needs to be some sort of advertising,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
The Qatari ambassador Jamal Al-Bader added that with its direct Doha-S\u00e3o Paulo flight, Qatar Airways is ready to explore new Brazilian tourist destinations.<\/p>\n
Exchange <\/b> <\/p>\n
In the afternoon, the diplomats visited the Federal University of Paran\u00e1 (UFPR) where they were welcomed by the rector Zaki Akel Sobrinho, who is of Syrian and Lebanese descent, and by the vice-rector Rog\u00e9rio Mulinari.<\/p>\n
The conversation revolved mainly around international student and professor exchange. \u201cThere is a demand for internationalization,\u201d said Akel, adding that the institution has agreements with European, North American, South American, and African universities. \u201cIt makes sense to establish strategic partnerships with Arab countries as well,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Most of the diplomats took interest in the matter, and the talks are likely to move forward. \u201cWe could start out with professors and researchers for short periods of time,\u201d said the rector.<\/p>\n
The diplomats also met with representatives of the Curitiba-based charity Sociedade \u00c1rabe Beneficente de Curitiba, which has plans to build a hospital in the city.<\/p>\n
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Diplomats attended a workshop for businessmen at the Federation of Industries of the state, discussed student exchange at the Federal University, and met with representatives of a charity association.<\/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-41665","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-foreign-affairs"},"wps_subtitle":"Diplomats attended a workshop for businessmen at the Federation of Industries of the state, discussed student exchange at the Federal University, and met with representatives of a charity association.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41665","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=41665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41665\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}