São Paulo – After a week of meetings, visits, and events across three countries, the governors of the Northeast Consortium are betting on agreements, deals, and investments in their states over the coming months. The mission aimed to present the region’s projects to the Arab Gulf countries.
The trip was an initiative of the Northeast Consortium, a public body created to promote integration among the states of the region, along with the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil) and state-run lender Banco do Brasil. It was ed by the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC), Brazilian development bank BNDES, and Banco do Nordeste.
On May 24 and 25, governors, vice governors, and state secretaries visited Qatar. From there, they traveled to Saudi Arabia, where they stayed on May 26 and 27, before continuing on to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on May 28 and 29. In all three countries, they met with local authorities, businesspeople, and held visits. They showcased their states and projects that require and investment in areas such as tourism, agriculture, energy transition, and infrastructure.
ABCC President William Adib Dib Jr. said the mission successfully presented projects from Brazil’s Northeast to companies in the Gulf. “All the governors managed to showcase the projects they’re most interested in promoting and attracting Arab investment from, and during the last events, many businesspeople attended,” he said. “We visited ports and companies, which was very well-received by everyone, and they showed great interest and engagement,” he added. The vice president of international relations and secretary-general of the ABCC, Mohamad Mourad, ed the mission in the UAE.
President of the Northeast Consortium and governor of Piauí, Rafael Fonteles, said on his social media that all the countries visited have “great potential” for partnerships with Northeast Brazilian states. “And over time, as relationships deepen and details are worked out, these will lead to real investments in our states, creating opportunities for our people,” he said.
According to information from the Northeast Consortium, more than 30 meetings and visits were held over the six-day period. Rafael Solimeo, head of Brazil’s office in Dubai, said the Northeast Consortium’s proposal to present itself as a bloc to Arab countries highlighted Brazil’s size. “That region is the size of a country, and that attracted the attention of the Arab audience,” said Solimeo.
He said that the Arabs saw many similarities between their territory and that of the Northeast in of climate, soil, and other characteristics. “If a company already has a technology operating in an Arab country, it can easily adapt and adopt it in the Northeast,” he said. “The Arabs are interested in the Northeast, but it’s necessary to follow up on this initial step,” Solimeo emphasized, so that business deals and investments can be materialized.
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Northeast Brazil heads to Gulf for investments
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
