Tunisian delegation will search for business in Brazil

A mission from the Arab country will attend a fair in early May organized by the Supermarket Association of São Paulo state and a bilateral business council meeting. Former ambassador Hassine Bouzid heads the group

Former Tunisian ambassador in Brasília, Hassine Bouzid, will lead a delegation to Brazil to participate in a meeting of the Brazil-Tunisia Business Council and in a fair of the Supermarket Association of São Paulo State (Apas). The Apas exhibition takes place from May 4th to 7th, and the council meeting on May 5th.

Bouzid headed the Tunisian diplomatic representation in Brazil from 2000 to 2005. After leaving office, and until recently, he served as ambassador of the League of Arab States in Madrid, Spain.

ANBA met with the diplomat at the Best Bottled Olive Oil in Tunisia Award ceremony in Tunis, this Thursday (16th), and he discussed the mission. “The goal is to talk about the strengthening, consolidation and diversification of the cooperation between the two countries”, he declared.

In the council, according to Bouzid, the idea is to discuss what can be done in this regard. For him, there are more trade opportunities than what is already done. Brazil exports to Tunisia mainly sugar, soybean, maize and coffee, while the Tunisians sell to Brazilians especially phosphates used as input in agriculture.

Bouzid believes that Brazil can, for instance, sell machinery and industrial equipment to Tunisia, and that his country can export electronic components to the Brazilian market. “We need to organize missions of Brazilian businessmen to Tunisia and the other way around with the goal of identifying possibilities of trade diversification, partnerships, industrial cooperation and, why not, joint projects”, he said.

Four Tunisians companies are scheduled to attend the Apas fair: CHO Group, olive oil producer; Midcom, which trades olive oil, dates and other traditional Arab culinary products; Boudjebel AS Vacpa, which processes and exports dates; and Pâtes Warda, which produces pasta and couscous.

Also set to be part of the delegation are representatives from the Center for Export Promotion (CEPEX) of Tunisia and from the agricultural sector chamber of the country. From the Brazilian side, the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce is the one responsible for the organization of the council and the Apas exhibition.

“We are not going to talk only about agriculture products, but also about other sectors, and we want to hear the Brazilian side. I’m very optimistic”, concluded Bouzid.

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