São Paulo – Brazil’s vice president, Michel Temer, met on Sunday (31) with the sultan of Oman, Qaboos Bin Said. The meeting was part of the official three day visit that the Brazilian is making to the Arab country. At the meeting, Temer said that Oman is the country in the Middle East that receives the greatest investment from Brazil, added that companies in several sectors aim to invest in the country and called for support from Muscat for Brazil’s candidate, ambassador Roberto de Azevêdo, to the post of director general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and of São Paulo to host the Expo 2020.<\/p>\n
The visit by Temer to Oman has the support of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce<\/strong>, which is represented in the delegation by president Marcelo Sallum and by CEO Michel Alaby.<\/p>\n To host Expo 2020, São Paulo is running against Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates; İzmir, Turkey; Yekaterinburg, Russia; and Ayutthaya, Thaildand. The winning city will be announced in November, in Paris. The first rounds of inquiries for the WTO director general, in turn, begins on Tuesday (02), in Geneva, Switzerland. Azevêdo is running against another eight candidates from Ghana, Costa Rica, Indonesia, New Zealand, Kenya, Jordan, Mexico and South Korea. The winner should be chosen up to May 31st.<\/p>\n According to information disclosed on the site of the vice presidency and on Oman News Agency<\/em>, Temer told the sultan that Brazilian companies are interested in investing in the country in areas like aviation, the electric and electronic product industry, food, defence and civil construction. Mining company Vale has an iron ore pelleting plant and a maritime terminal in the country.<\/p>\n At the meeting, Temer delivered to the sultan a letter from president Dilma Rousseff inviting him to Brazil. Qaboos, in turn, stated that Brazil plays a greater and greater part in relations between countries in the Middle East. Since Rousseff was inaugurated, Temer has already visited Lebanon and Qatar, among the Arab countries. In the Middle East, he has also already been to Turkey.<\/p>\n Temer’s agenda in Oman on Monday included a breakfast with Brazilian businessmen, meetings with the deputy prime minister Sayyid Bin Mahmood Al Said and with the minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Alawi Bin Abdullah, a luncheon offered by the Oman Chamber of Commerce, the signing of agreements between Brazil and the Arab country and a dinner offered by the deputy prime minister. On Tuesday (2), Temer should visit the Vale installations in Sohar prior to returning to Brasília.<\/p>\n *Translated by Mark Ament<\/strong><\/p>\n