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São Paulo – The Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce <\/strong>signed on to a memorandum of understanding this Wednesday (8) with the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) in Manama, the Bahraini capital. Arab Chamber CEO Michel Alaby, the agreement’s signatory on the Brazilian side, said the deal provides for the sharing of information on trade and businesses, as well as for business missions and trade shows in both countries. <\/p>\n “We will work on this two-way exchange,” Alaby said. On the Bahraini side, the MoU was signed by BCCI chairman Khalid Almoayed. The visit to the BCCI headquarters was part of the schedule of a mission to Arab countries in the Gulf that was organized by the Brazilian federal government in a bid to invite investors into the country. <\/p>\n The Projects Coordination secretary of Brazil’s Investment Partnership Program (Programa de Parceria de Investimentos – PPI), Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas, who’s leading the mission, told ANBA over the phone that besides signing on to the MoU, the Brazilian delegates spoke with local business owners at the BCCI. “They are entrepreneurs who do business around the world and who display synergy with our investment projects,” he remarked.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A case in point is BCCI deputy chairman Khalid Rashid Al Zayani, who took the Brazilian delegates on a tour of his firm Al Zayani Investments after the meeting. The firm comprises electrical wire and cable company Midal Cables, which is involved in a joint venture with Brazil’s wooden electrical cable reel maker Madem. The partnership gave rise to Madem Gulf, a reel manufacturing facility in Manama. Al Zayani is also board chairman at Islamic bank Al Baraka.<\/p>\n Projects advertised by the Brazilians include power line tenders and power utility auctions, as well as other ventures amenable to foreign investment. <\/p>\n Technology transfer <\/strong><\/p>\n The Brazilian delegation also convened with board members form Bahrain’s sovereign fund Mumtalakat. According to Freitas, the fund’s investments portfolio is wide-ranging, and its executives welcomed the idea of doing business in Brazil. On the other hand, the Bahrainis wish to transfer Brazilian technology to the Arab country. <\/p>\n “They have the capital and they want the knowledge, and they’d like us to bridge this gap with Brazilian companies which possess this knowledge, but not the capital to join these projects,” the secretary said. The projects being offered by the delegates are mostly in infrastructure construction and operation, as well as privatization deals. <\/p>\n The group now travelling the Gulf features personnel from the Brazilian Ministry of Transportation, the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES), the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil) and Arab Brazilian Chamber Investments director Daniel Hannun. In Bahrain, the delegation was accompanied by the non-resident ambassador of Brazil to Bahrain, Norton Rapesta, who’s stationed in Kuwait. The Brazilians are slated to travel to Kuwait and Qatar. <\/p>\n *Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum<\/strong><\/p>\n