The state of Sao Paulo in Brazil has opened a representative office in Dubai, aimed at growing trade between Brazil’s leading industrial centre and the Middle East and North Africa region.
João Dória, governor of Sao Paulo and Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, group chairman and CEO of DP World, led a ceremony at Dubai Maritime City.
The opening comes as exports from Brazil to Arab countries grew by 6.3 percent year-on-year to reach $12.2 billion in 2019 while Brazilian imports from the region reached a value of $7 billion.
The Trade Promotion Office will aim to expand the trading relationship between Sao Paulo and the MENA region, including exports of Brazilian products, and to attract investment in Sao Paulo´s privatisation projects.
The office in Dubai follows the opening last year of a trade mission in Shanghai.
“Sao Paulo has excellent investment opportunities in both privatisation and private sector initiatives,” said Wilson Mello, president of InvestSP. “The MENA region is already a major importer of Brazilian products, especially from São Paulo, so we have assembled a team of businessmen and other representatives from the private sector to strengthen trade further.”
Bin Sulayem said: “There was significant growth in trade between Brazil and the UAE as well as with the wider Arab region in 2019. We see great opportunities to expand our trading relationship, benefitting businesses and the people of the UAE and the state of Sao Paulo.”
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