São Paulo – Boosting exports and drawing investors in are the goals of Tunisian government officials and executives who will be on a mission to Brazil this week. Led by Tunisian Foreign Relations minister Khemaies Jhinaoui, delegates from ten enterprises will talk business with Brazilian companies.<\/p>\n
“These companies are looking for partners in Brazil. Brazil is a big country. The last time a Tunisian foreign minister travelled to Brazil was in 2006. It was about time to come back and seek investors. The whole mission is strictly economy-oriented,” said Mohamed Hedi Soltani, the Tunisian ambassador to Brasília.<\/p>\n
The delegation will comprise executives from the auto, services, energy, finance, tourism, plastics, textiles, agrifoods and pharma industries. <\/p>\n
On the 26th, the executives and government officials will join the Brazil-Tunisia Forum, an event organized by the embassy of Tunisia in Brasília and the Federation of Industry of the State of São Paulo (Fiesp) with backing from the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce<\/strong>. At the forum, Tunisian and Brazilian executives will also have one-on-one business meetings.<\/p>\n “This is the biggest delegation from Tunisia ever to come to Brazil in number of people. A Tunisian foreign minister hadn’t been to Brazil in a long time. This goes to show that they are looking to enhance their partnership with Brazil,” points out Arab Brazilian Chamber president Rubens Hannun. “They have a new investments policy in place, and they are giving priority to South America, he said. <\/p>\n The day before the Forum, the minister will meet with São Paulo mayor João Doria Jr. and attend the opening of a photo exhibit on Tunisia in the São Paulo Metro’s Paulista station. After the Forum, Jhinaoui will be at the opening of the new Arab Brazilian Chamber headquarters. <\/p>\n Increasing sales to Brazil is one of the mission’s goals. From January to March, Brazil imported USD 5.21 million worth of goods from Tunisia. The amount was down 27.15% from Q1 2016 and the top-selling items were aluminum fluoride, radio transmitters and olive oil. <\/p>\n Brazil also supplies goods to Tunisia. Q1 exports reached USD 60.13 million, up 37.14% from Q1 2016. The top-selling items were sugar, maize oil, and chassis with motors for automobiles. <\/p>\n *Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum<\/strong><\/p>\n