Kuwait Times

Published Date: July 27, 2010

BRASILIA: Brazilian President Luiz Incio Lula da Silva has stressed the vital importance of the role played by the private sectors in his country and Kuwait in boosting trade exchange, said the head of the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) delegation, Sayer Bader Al-Sayer, on Sunday evening. The KCCI delegation is accompanying His Highness the Prime Minister of Kuwait Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah on his tour of Latin American and Caribbean states.

Al-Sayer made his statement at the conclusion of the party's visit to Brazil, prior to their departure for Chile.The senior KCCI official emphasized the importance of investing in the "positive and brotherly" atmosphere between the two countries, in order to implement a proposal to establish a Kuwaiti-Brazilian holding investment company that would include the public and private sectors of the two countries.

He added that the KCCI has extended an invitation to members of the Brazilian business community to visit Kuwait and to increase the exchanges of commercial delegations, in order to show the available investment opportunities to the Brazilians and demonstrate how they could benefit from the projects included in Kuwait's development plan through partnership with their Kuwaiti counterparts.

Al-Sayer further revealed that the KCCI delegation was also briefed on investment opportunities in Brazil in the sectors of tourism, industry and banking, adding that the delegates had visited Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro, with these trips serving to strengthen cooperation between the two countries' private sectors.

Meanwhile, KCCI Board Member Talal Jassem Al-Kharafi said that strengthening relations between the two nations requires the completion of draft agreements that will facilitate, support and protect investments between the two countries. He said that this also requires the formation of bilateral committees grouping representatives of the public and private sectors to study the projects and assess them, adding that it is important to establish a commercial office.

Al-Kharafi said that commercial relations between Kuwait and Brazil are still not at the levels hoped for, given the challenge of geographic distance and the small number of commercial visits and exhibitions held between the two nations. He also underscored the importance of benefitting from the Brazilian business sector and the geographical location of Kuwait to enhance the volume of foreign trade between the two countries and to target the high population density in Iraq, Iran and the GCC states.

Meanwhile, HH Sheikh Nasser arrived late Sunday in the capital of Chile, Santiago, the sixth leg of his Latin American and Caribbean tour. Sheikh Nasser was received at the airport by commander of the air force, Arab ambassadors accredited in Santiago, Kuwait's Ambassador to Argentina and Non-Resident Ambassador to Chile Saud Abdulaziz Shamlan Al-Roumi, director of the Foreign Ministry's protocol department, and staff members of Kuwait Embassy in Argentina.

In Brazil, the previous stop, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said during a luncheon held in honor of the visiting Kuwaiti Prime Minister, that His Highness Sheikh Nasser's visit to Brazil represented the beginning of a new era in constructive relations between the two countries.

Allow me to say that your visit to Latin American and Caribbean countries reflects the success of our efforts, through which we seek - together, and through visits of Arab leaders and commercial exchange - to build greater relations in the fields of culture, tourism, sports, commerce, economy and finance," the president said.

His Highness Sheikh Nasser's tour already saw him in Antigua and Berbuda, Mexico, Cuba, Guyana and Brazil, and several political, economic, commercial, cultural, sports, and aviation service agreements were signed between Kuwait and these countries.

The delegation accompanying His Highness the Prime Minister includes representatives of Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who also met with their counterparts in the visited countries to discuss developing commercial and economic relations. In Chile, His Highness Sheikh Nasser is set to meet with President Sebastian Pinera Echenique, to discuss bilateral relations. He will also meet head of the Supreme Court, and the speakers of the Senate and the Parliament. --- KUNA