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The president said the country surpassed his expectations and underscored his good relations with crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

“I’m in love with Saudi Arabia,” president Jair Bolsonaro said this Wednesday (30) during a business seminar at the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry (pictured above), in Riyadh. The Saudi-Brazilian Business Forum was the final appointment in the president’s two-day stay in the Arab country. He’s coming away with a pledge from the local sovereign fund toinvest USD 10 billion in different sectors within Brazil.

At the end of the Forum, Bolsonaro told the press that the trip’s results were better than expected. “It was much more than we’d imagined, the exceptional hospitality, interest and trust in a new Brazil from our Saudi Arabian friends,” he said. “Nothing beats one-on-one contact.”

On several occasions, the Brazilian president thanked the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman and said they built a good relationship – even a friendship.

He stressed that Brazil needs these investments and Saudi Arabia needs food security. “And if it’s up to us, they’ll get it,” he said, referring to the fact that Brazil is a major food producing and exporting country. Saudi Arabia, in turn, has the funds available to invest, but must rely on imports to plug its food gap.

On one of the many occasions in which he spoke with journalists throughout the day, Bolsonaro heaped praise on Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 pluriannual plan to liberalize and diversify its economy. “They have a very medium- and long-term view, and we should follow their strategy,” he said.

In the morning, at the Future Investment Initiative (FII), aka “Davos in the Desert,” Bolsonaro discussed preferred investment targets in Brazil, like infrastructure, sanitation, oil and gas, artificial intelligence and defense. “We need the infrastructure resources to offload production from the central part of the country,” he said.

OPEC

During the conference, the president mentioned the November 6 pre-salt auction, just as he’d done in two other Arab countries – the UAE and Qatar – earlier this week. “I’d like for you to join. After all, between the experience that you have and the experience that we have with Petrobras, we can build a great partnership and help stabilize fossil fuel prices around the world,” he told the audience.

José Dias/PR

With Olayan, Bolsonaro said he’d like to see Brazil join the OPEC

In answering a question from Saudi business mogul Lubna Olayan, he said he’d like to see Brazil join the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). She said Brazil is one of the top ten oil producing countries in the world, and asked Bolsonaro about the industry outlook. The president replied that in 10 to 15 years’ time, Brazil may become the fifth or sixth biggest producer. “There’s even some talk about Brazil joining the OPEC,” he said, to what Olayan retorted: “Our minister of Oil would like that.” Saudi Arabia’s minister of Energy, Abdulaziz bin Salman, had been in a panel a while earlier.

“We can discuss it,” said Bolsonaro. “I’d have to hear my minister of Economy [Paulo Guedes] and my minister of Mines and Energy [Bento Albuquerque] on this, but speaking for myself, I’d like for us to join the OPEC. We have the potential for it. We have bigger oil reserves than some of the OPEC member countries,” he pointed out.

OPEC comprises 14 exporting countries and exerts a powerful influence on international oil supply and prices.

Saudi Pressa Agency (SPA)

The president and the king

In between the IFF and the Saudi Chambers seminar, Bolsonaro was welcomed by the Saudi king, Salman bin Abdulaziz, and by other authorities. Documents got signed including agreements on visitor visa facilitation and defense industry cooperation; memorandums of understanding on partnerships in acquisitions, industry, research and development, defense technology, cultural cooperation, and cooperation between the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) and the Saudi Fund for Development; and a cooperation program was entered into by the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil) and the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) to “enhance bilateral investment relations.”

Overview

Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commercepresident Rubens Hannun, who was part of the business delegation that travelled alongside Bolsonaro, stressed the relevance of this kind of visit and one-on-one meetings. “The Arab Chamber has always held business missions, and from the very beginning, this type of initiative proved important in building closer ties and fostering business,” he said. Hannun believes that eye-to-eye contact is conducive to rapid problem-solving and the establishment of partnerships.

A case in point is the Saudi sovereign fund’s pledge to invest in Brazil, the agreements that were reached and the talks involving Brazilian and Saudi businesspeople. “This was very successful. Important agreements have been signed and the primary goal of attracting investments has been fulfilled. These are very effective results,” he argued. And this goes both ways, sinceBRF of Brazil announced that it will invest in a food processing plantin Saudi Arabia.

Hannun said that partnerships between Brazil and the countries that were visited are strategic, and not limited to trade relations alone.

Source: ANBA