São Paulo – LIDE Futuro, a group of young Brazilian entrepreneurial leaders, are looking to build ties with the Arab countries. With that in mind, some of the group’s members met with high-level executives at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce headquarters in São Paulo on Wednesday (23).
Led by LIDE Futuro head Vittorio Furlan, the visitors attended a presentation on the Arab countries and discussed their economic profiles and trade relations with the world with Arab Chamber International Relations vice president Mohamad Mourad, former president and advisor Osmar Chohfi, director Arthur Jafet, and Institutional Relations director Fernanda Baltazar.
Operating as the youth arm of LIDE, an entrepreneurial association, LIDE Futuro focuses on upskilling young Brazilians to get them ready to run businesses and take on the labor market. “These skills will come as a result of contact, of experiences, of being in settings such as the Arab Chamber so that we can see what the world has to offer,” Furlan told ANBA.
“We believe the Arab world is extremely important not just due to its geopolitics and location, but also due to its growing trade with Brazil,” says Furlan. The young man argues that there needs to be continuity and expansion in Brazil’s relations with the Arab countries. “The best way to go about that is to be close to those who bridge that gap,” he said regarding the visit to the Arab Chamber.
In the past, Vittorio Furlan joined a LIDE mission to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, both of which are Arab countries, and studied the Arabic language for five years. However, the meeting at the Arab Chamber has been the young leaders’ group’s first collective step towards the Arab world.
The group’s idea is to build rapport with organizations that approach the Arab countries as a whole, such as the Arab Chamber, but also to delve into each country separately in order to figure out their needs and partner up with local youth, according to Furlan. “In doing so, we will build early bridges and connections that may lead to future business. As was said in here, Arabs are always looking for partnerships, and that’s what we want. We want to partner up in order to build the future,” he said.
Now that contact has been made, the Arab Chamber and LIDE Futuro have pledged to foster this relationship by aiming to connect the Brazilian group with potential young business counterparts in Arab countries as well as involve the group in Arab Chamber activities.
During the meetings, the young visitors were given an overview of facts regarding Arab countries, such as the size of their economy, which is USD 3.56 trillion; the fact that they are the fourth biggest importer and exporter in global trade; the fact that they have a very young, growing, and connected population; the fact that Arab trade with Brazil amounts to USD 34 billion; the demand for halal products, made in compliance with the rules of Islam; business opportunities for new value-added products; and other topics.
Arab Chamber and LIDE Futuro
The Arab Chamber also went over the work it does for Brazilian-Arab relations, including organizing missions and stints at trade shows across Brazil and the Arab countries; implementing the Ellos Easy Trade system, which has digitized foreign trade processes involving Brazil and the Arab countries; providing international consulting to businesses; working with startups within its CCAB Lab innovation laboratory; hosting the Global Halal Brazil Business Forum; and other initiatives.
Besides Furlan, LIDE Futuro members attending the meeting were Antonio Vilarinho Dias, Eric Erlichman, Giovane Albertini Mendonça, Guilherme Casarini Mello, Lucas Lopes, Ricardo Torres, Vinícius Almeida, and Alexandre Abreu Pereira, alongside the LIDE Relationship manager Julia Prieto.
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