S\u00e3o Paulo- The CEO of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce<\/b>, Michel Alaby, will attend the event Invest in Oman Forum<\/i> set to September 27 and 28 at the Grand Millennium Hotel, in Muscat, capital of Oman. The executive will give the lecture \u201cExperience and opportunities in Brazilian free-trade zones\u201d in the event\u2019s first day. The Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry is organizing the forum in a partnership with the General Union of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture for Arab Countries. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe purpose of the Manaus Free Zone differs from the purposes of the Arab free zones. The first purpose of the Manaus free zone was to occupy the territory of Amazonas state. They (the founders of the free zone) weren\u2019t concerned in searching of export opportunities but in bringing companies to produce using the local workforce and produce to the domestic market\u201d, says Alaby.<\/p>\n
In the Arab countries, the free zones are large areas meant to host foreign companies with a focus on the production of goods and services to the external market. Overall, these companies receive full tax exemption and incentives from the government to establish themselves in these areas.<\/p>\n
The executive says that in Brazil the areas created for the production of goods for exports, which have tax exemptions, are called Export Processing Zones (EPZs). They are smaller in size compared to Manaus Free Zone.<\/p>\n
The main Brazilian EPZs, he says, are the ones in Tabatinga, Amazonas; Macap\u00e1, Amap\u00e1; Brasil\u00e9ia, Epitaciol\u00e2ndia and Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre; Guaruj\u00e1-Mirim, Rond\u00f4nia; and Boa Vista and Bonfim, Roraima. In these places, there are foreign companies that, overall, produce basic goods such as bricks, a\u00e7a\u00ed berry, ice cream, coffee, milk and dairies, non-alcoholic beverages, vegetal oil and soft drinks, among others.<\/p>\n
Alaby believes that Brazil is not in an ideal moment to create new free zones such as the one in Manaus but aiming at the external market, but that the country could invest in new EPZs in \u201careas in which there\u2019s difficulties in job creation\u201d.<\/p>\n
Invest in Oman Forum<\/i> will gather investors from all over the world in an event with a focus on the economic sectors that display the potential to diversify the Omani economy.<\/p>\n
According to the newspaper Muscat Daily, among the panels that will be presented are one calledMajor Economic Features of the Sultanate during the Coming Period<\/i> and a presentation by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) called Possible Alternatives for Diversification in the Sultanate and the Role of Foreign Investors<\/i>. The Saudi Chambers Union will present the lecture The Economic Conditions in GCC States<\/i>. Alaby\u2019s presentation will take place within the panel Economic and Free Zones and the Available Investment Opportunities<\/i>.<\/p>\n
For further information on the event, contact Mohammed Al-Huseini at mk_huseini@chamberoman.com.<\/p>\n
*Translated by S\u00e9rgio Kakitani<\/b><\/p>\n