São Paulo – A group of 20 youths from Saudi Arabia, comprising men and women, will come to Brazil next month to meet with Brazilian students. The Forum of Young Saudis and Brazilians will be held from June 26th to July 5th, when participants will travel to São Paulo, Manaus and Rio de Janeiro to discuss three main topics: environment and fighting poverty; clean energy; and organization of major events.
“Saudi Arabia has a much broader experience in large events,” said Ibrahim Aleisa, the vice ambassador of the Arab country to Brasília (the Brazilian capital), during a visit to the headquarters of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, last week in São Paulo. “Brazil will host the 2016 Olympics and it will cause a large concentration of people at once. In Saudi Arabia there is the Hajj, which is the pilgrimage to Mecca, which last three days and concentrates over 3 million people in one place. There is the entire logistical aspect of food, healthcare and security,” says Aleisa, explaining that the experience of the Hajj may help Brazil organize the sports event.
Aleisa explains that the young Saudis will spend ten days with Brazilian university students aged 20 to 25 to discuss the topics mentioned. At the end of the meeting, three letters will be written containing the conclusions of the debates. One of the letters, to be written by the Brazilian group, will be delivered to king Abdullah, of Saudi Arabia; another letter will be written by the Arab group to be handed to the Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff; and a third document, to be jointly elaborated by the two groups, will be sent to the secretary general of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon.
The forum is being organised by the Saudi government. According to Aleisa, a second phase of the forum should take place next year, with the visit of young Brazilians to the country, sponsored by the Saudi government.
Aleisa, who has been working for little over two months, claims that the Brazilians are very dear to the Saudis, and that there are many business opportunities between the two countries.
“Food exports to Saudi Arabia are very strong right now,” he said. “I envision several other investment opportunities, because Saudi Arabia has the capital and Brazil has opportunities,” he claimed. According to the vice ambassador, the building industry also offers good possibilities for Brazilian construction companies. “We have many Chinese companies operating in our country, but few from Brazil. Brazil boasts very high quality in the building industry,” he finished off.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
