Qatari and Brazilian authorities yesterday held a high-profile meeting in the presence of the visiting President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro.
They discussed the huge investment opportunities arising out of the ongoing auctioning and divestment process of Brazil’s state assets, which include oil & gas fields worth over $250bn.
The roundtable meeting with the President was attended by representatives of leading Qatari agencies, companies, investors and business leaders. The Qatari side was led by Minister of Commerce and Industry, H E Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari, who also presented the investment opportunities in Qatar and highlighted the country’s robust macroeconomic fundamentals and growth prospects.
Present at the meeting were prominent Qatari businessmen, representatives from Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Qatar Development Bank (QDB), Manateq, Qatar Free Zones Authority, Qatar Financial Centre and several of other government and private entities and dignitaries.
Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani, Chairman of Qatari Businessmen Association (QBA), and Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim Al Thani, Chairman of Qatar Chamber, and several ministers and top officials of President Bolsonaro’s government explored the investment opportunities and ways of boosting cooperation.
Brazil’s new government, under the leadership of President Bolsonaro, is introducing bold reforms almost all sectors of the South America and Latin America’s largest economy. The reforms include privatization of dozens of airports, sea ports, highways, railway networks, and oil & gas fields among others aiming to improve their value and obtain higher efficiency as part of its PPI initiative (Investment Partnership Programme).
“Brazil and Qatar are economies which have a lot to offer to each other. Our respect for Qatar is very high. Both the countries enjoy strong bilateral relationships in the field of trade, investment and defense cooperation but we want to further strengthen this. We want to boost the level of trust and restore Brazil’s credibility back. I am also trying to fulfill the promises that I made before taking office,” said President Bolsonaro in his address at the meeting. The President added: “We at Brazil have sea of opportunities for investments in several promising sectors of the economy, which is now on the right path. We already have signed agreements with Qatar with regard to avoiding double-taxation and investment protection and other areas, but we want to give greater protection for investments.”
Bolsonaro also said that his government is opening up the economy to foreign investors and businesses to improve efficiency and ensure sustainable development. It is also working to be more business and investment-friendly and striving to improve the ease of doing business in Brazil to attract foreign investment to the country. The President also noted that his government is not soft in dealing with bureaucratic hurdles or authorities, and has zero tolerance against corruption. Mansour bin Ibrahim Al Mahmoud, Executive Director at QIA said that QIA is interested to invest in some sectors of the Brazilian economy, including the stock market, and expressed to explore the opportunities in greater details. While the representative from Manateq invited to the Brazilian companies to explore opportunities and set up manufacturing facilities in the upcoming industrial enclaves and free zones. Both side agreed to have more meetings in the coming days to discuss further.
