‘UAE-Brazil bilateral trade hits $2.6-billion mark during 2018’

Brazil-UAE bilateral trade is set to increase this year with the intensified business transactions, a top Brazilian diplomat said. “The bilateral trade stood at $2.6 billion in 2018, however, the first eight months of 2019 have already witnessed $2 billion trade transactions. This means 2019 trade volumes will surpass the 2018 figures,” Fernando Lus Lemos Igreja, the Brazilian Ambassador to the UAE, told the Emirates News Agency, WAM.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro will begin his three-day state visit to the UAE on Saturday. It is his first state visit to the Arab world since he became president in January 2019.

Bolsonaro will open the Brazil-UAE Business Forum in Abu Dhabi on Sunday morning, Igreja said.

The forum will showcase investment opportunities in both countries, as more than 100 Brazilian businesspersons have already reached the UAE to attend the forum.

“We expect the same number of UAE businesspersons also at the forum,” the ambassador said.

Sugar, poultry, meat and aircraft spare parts are the major exports from Brazil to the UAE, whereas fertiliser for agriculture is the main export from the UAE to Brazil, he explained.

Two daily flights operated by Emirates from Dubai to Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo in Brazil are the only direct flights from the UAE to Latin America. “Therefore, Brazil acts as a gateway to Latin America for the UAE,” he said.

The UAE and Brazil signed in 2018 bilateral agreements on avoidance of double taxation and facilitating investments.

Among the Brazilian companies operating in the UAE is BRF, one of the largest food companies in the world, with products under brands that include Sadia, Banvit, Hilal, Perdix and many others.

The BRF has the biggest meat processing plant in the Middle East region in Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi, KIZAD, which employs 600 people.

Igreja said that more such Brazilian companies are expected to enter the UAE market soon, adding that the innovation communities in the two countries also “have a close link.” He mentioned that a Brazilian startup won the top prize at GITEX Future Stars, the region’s biggest startup pitch competition.

Key2Enable, an Abu Dhabi-based startup bringing digital accessibility to People of Determination, won the prize ‘Supernova Challenge’ at GITEX in Dubai this month, the ambassador said.

The same startup had won the ‘Entrepreneur Hero award’ at the EdTech Innovation Startup Competition 2018, which was held in Abu Dhabi.

It was a global competition organised by Krypto Labs, an Abu Dhabi-based innovation hub, for startups that push the frontiers of transformation in education technology.

Key2Enbale won a grant of $150,000 and the opportunity to join the Krypto Lab’s incubator programme.

The UAE is seen by Brazil as a gateway to the Arab world and Asia, Igreja said.

“For Brazil, the UAE is a door and entrance to the Arab world [as a whole], especially the Arabian Gulf region, and Asia,” said Fernando Lus Lemos Igreja, the Brazilian Ambassador to the UAE.

“Brazil was one of the first countries that recognised the UAE, when it was founded, and we opened our embassy in the UAE 41 years ago,” he said.

It is Bolsonaro’s first state visit to a country in the Arab World. His next visits will be to Saudi Arabia.

This is a reciprocal gesture from Brazil as Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, was the first foreign minister from the Arab World to visit in March after Brazilian President came into power in January 2019.

The ambassador said Brazil and the UAE share common views on many issues in multilateral forums. A bilateral visa exemption agreement signed in 2017, allowing citizens of both countries visa-free travel, starting in June 2018, was a major step, Igreja noted.

“Last year we signed agreements on avoidance of double taxation and facilitating investments,” he added.

As the economic ties are also improving, the relations are expanding to new areas such as science, technology and IT. “We are moving to new levels of cooperation,” he said.

Brazil and the UAE are discussing certain agreements in some important sectors, which may be signed during the president’s visit, Igreja said, without explaining further.

An estimated 10,000 Brazilians live in the UAE; among them 1,600 Brazilian Jiu Jitsu instructors and their families.

“Most of them are from several parts of Brazil and they are a close-knit community. They know each other very well,” he explained.

Football is another element that brings both countries closer, as there are many Brazilian footballers in the UAE Arabian Gulf League.

The Brazilian national football team will also play against South Korea in the UAE on November 18 in a friendly match.

“This will pave the way for more avenues of interactions between both peoples,” the ambassador said.

WAM