Minister of Finance defends strengthening relations with the Middle East

Strengthening economic relations with the Middle East and the rest of Asia is important for expanding Brazilian exports and attracting direct investments, defended the Minister of Finance, Paulo Guedes, at the presentation ceremony of the Brazil pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, at Itamaraty.

“We are now connecting with what could be the hub not only of our exports to the rest of the world but also of receiving investments. The Middle East is, increasingly, a more sophisticated financial center”, said Guedes during the ceremony.

The minister defended that Brazil should start exporting more food to India, repeating the process of deepening trade carried out with China in recent decades. “From here to there our exports go, and from there to here investments come. We are returning to the path of the East Indies,” he added.

According to Guedes, trade and financial relations with the Middle East and Asia did not take off just because of the closing of the Brazilian economy. Guedes criticized decisions by the economic and diplomatic areas in previous governments that, in his words, made Brazilian foreign trade grow in isolation from the rest of the world.

Delayed by a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Expo 2020 Dubai officially opened on September 30 with a ceremony in the UAE.

Brazilian exports to the Middle East rose from US$ 1.33 billion in 2000 to US$ 8.8 billion in 2020. The best result occurred in 2012 when Brazilian sales to the region totaled US$ 12.27 billion.

Source: Agência Brasil

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