|
The Brazilian government wants to know from companies in the country what products should benefit from the free trade agreement between the Mercosur, the customs union between Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the economic bloc that includes Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Oman.
According to a statement published by Brazil's Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, the government wants to "harmonize" the interests of the government and private sector. The idea is for companies to point out what items they would like to see in the list of products to be negotiated and may receive preferred tariffs or total exemption of import fees. "This is an opportunity to open more markets for Brazilian products and for this reason it is necessary to insert new products," stated the secretary-general of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Michel Alaby. "It is now time for companies that have difficulties in exporting to the region or are interested in increasing sales to collaborate with the government so as to simplify negotiations," added the president of the organization, Antonio Sarkis Jr. Alaby recalled that the tariffs practiced by countries in the Gulf are already lower than those of developed nations. "The maximum tariff is 12% and the minimum is 5%," he declared. Among the products that could be included in the list, he mentioned industrialized food, auto parts, plastic products, handicraft, capital goods and agricultural machinery. Sarkis recalled that without consolidated trade agreements, although three are already in negotiation - apart from the GCC, the Mercosur is also negotiating with Morocco and Egypt -, bilateral trade between Brazil and the Arab countries has been growing in a consistent and balanced manner. In 2005, Brazilian exports to the Arabs totaled US$ 5.2 billion, 29% more than in 2004, and imports, US$ 5.3 billion, presenting growth of 28% in comparison to the previous year. To the president of the Arab Brazilian Chamber, the treaty will simplify trade and increase the number of partnerships between Brazilian and Arab countries. In the same line, Alaby stated that, with the signing of the agreement, there will be real possibilities to double trade relations. "And this may occur in a period of three to four years. It is possible, but with the introduction of new products into the basket," he added. "This is a chance for Brazil to start shipping new products to the Gulf," he added. Between January and November 2005, exports from Brazil to the countries in the GCC totaled US$ 2.15 billion and imports added up to US$ 1.33 billion. Nations in the Gulf, like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait are large producers of oil and gas and had great revenue increases due to rising oil prices on the foreign market. At the same time, these countries have great demand for various imported products. Arab Chamber The ministry stated that the company information should be sent "preferably" through associations and sector organizations. The Arab Brazilian Chamber is going to help in the negotiations. The companies interested should contact the organization. "We place the Arab Brazilian Chamber services at the disposal of companies," stated Alaby. The deadline for presentation of the proposals to the Ministry of Development is January 23. Alaby has asked companies interested to send their information to the Chamber up to the 20th. The information may be sent by mail, fax or e-mail. A joint statement published after the last meeting between representatives from both blocs, in November in Riyadh, says that negotiations for the agreement may be concluded this year. The next phase is the exchange of lists of products that may be included in the agreement, as well as offers in the areas of services and investment. Then will come a new round of negotiations, which should take place in Buenos Aires at the beginning of 2006. Further information Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce
General Secretariat
Tel: (+55 11) 3283-4066
Fax: (+55 11) 3147-4077
E-mail: secgeral@ccab.org.br
Address: Av. Paulista, 326, 17th Floor, São Paulo (SP), CEP 01310-902 Department of Foreign Negotiations at the Ministry of Development
Tel: (+55 61) 2109-7013
Fax: (+55 61) 2109-7385
E-mail: deint@desenvolvimento.gov.br
Address: Esplanada dos Ministérios, bloco J, 7° andar, sala 718, Brasília (DF), CEP 70056-900 Anba - www.anba.com.br
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
The small, coastal town of Condé is located just a twenty minute's drive from João Pessoa, the capital of Paraíba. The Northeast of Brazil has historically been a place of encounter and mixing between peoples. For millenia groups of indigenous people fished, farmed, migrated and sometimes fought along this large, fertile area. 
The Brazilian diplo-MÁ-cia (bad diplomacy) carries on its accelerated course towards the non-acknowledgment of human rights, although sometimes it takes pleasure in saying that it does precisely the opposite. The visit of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is another example of a diplomatic omission that verges on hypocrisy. 
On July 4, 2006, representatives of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay met in Caracas to sign the protocol for the entrance of Venezuela into the Southern Common Market (Mercosur). After two and a half years, the protocol was approved by the legislative bodies of Argentina and Uruguay, and as of now it may be only days away from being ratified by the continent's economic megalith, Brazil. 
Some sectors of the fight against AIDS have suggested that Thabo Mbeki, the former president of South Africa, committed genocide through his absence from the fight against the illness in his country throughout his two terms. 
One hundred and eleven years after Brazil abolished slavery, the number of workers deprived of their freedom is still huge. They raise cattle, produce charcoal, sugar cane or timber. Some of them, most undocumented Bolivians, work in basements of small apparel factories in São Paulo and other metropolis. 
On November 7, 2009 a few friends and I had an opportunity to take a look inside a Brazilian jail outside the city of Rio de Janeiro. We were able to take some amateur footage of our experience on video (see link below). It's no surprise, of course, that the typical Brazilian jail lacks some of the functionality of those in North America or Europe, but our experience that day was quite shocking. 
Depletion of the Amazon Rainforest is not a new concern facing environmentalists, biologists, ecologists, and a growing number of the Amazonian indigenous peoples. For decades they have feared for the fate of the world's most biologically diverse and species-rich hothouse. 
Geisy Arruda made history this week in Brazil, but for all the wrong reasons. What began as a poorly planned fashion statement has become a worldwide tale. Geisy decided to wear a pink mini-dress to her private college in São Paulo state, and after that, all hell broke loose. 
The push of vigilante groups in Rio de Janeiro's favelas (shantytowns) in the last three years is the most important and alarming information of the just-released study by the Rio de Janeiro University's Violence Research Center (Nupev-Uerj). 
A dispute over drug trafficking territory in Rio de Janeiro has intensified lately, leaving in its wake unprecedented acts of violence, such as the downing of a police helicopter in the northern zone of the city on October 17. Three policemen died and another two were injured. This event has drawn the attention of the international media, who are raising the issue of public security for the 2016 Olympics to be held in Rio.
Then the EU could sell products to the Gulf countries and re-export to you tax free !
Or, China will sell their textile to the Gulf countries, and then be re-exported to you, tax free !
Just the same as your desire to export sugar ethanol to the Caribean countries who then can re-export, tax free, to the USA !
In that case you will loose almost all your exports, except your agricultural and basic metals such as iron ore.
In futbol you are great, but in the economy in trading you just put autogoals !
Dirty tricks prevail in Brazil.
That is in your blood. Nothing is normal there. Impunity, insecurity, corruption, tax evasion, wealth inequality, vote buying, injustice is your daily life of thinking.
That is why you failed in the last 50 years and will continue to remain a developing country for the next century.