São Paulo – Businessman Obad Alzahrani (L, pictured) was nominated as the new Arab board member of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and intends to work on fostering economic relations between Brazil and Saudi Arabia. Alzahrani is part of the board as a representative of the Council of Saudi Chambers.
On Monday (16), he visited the Arab Chamber headquarters in São Paulo. In an interview with ANBA, after visiting the organization’s facilities, he said he was impressed by the Arab Chamber’s building and structure. The Saudi businessman was welcomed by the Chamber’s secretary-general Tamer Mansour.
Alzahrani works on several business fronts in Saudi Arabia, particularly foodstuffs: He owns to restaurant chains that are part of Taza Company. They’re approximately 40 establishments in the Arab country and Brazil is one of their poultry and beef suppliers.
Alzahrani said that he’s in Brazil as a result of the president Jair Bolsonaro’s visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Council of Saudi Chambers and that he came to work for strengthening relations between both countries. He’ll visit São Paulo and the South region of Brazil and intends to check on investment opportunities for his company and Saudi investors in general.
According to Alzahrani, there are plans to bring a Saudi corporate delegation to Brazil so that they learn about business opportunities in the country some days before the Brazil-Arab Countries Economic Forum is held by the Arab Chamber on April 14, 2020 in São Paulo.
The Saudi entrepreneur believes that Brazil offers investment opportunities for the Saudis not only in foodstuffs but in others as tourism as well. “We want to open up new commercial horizons in the light of the acceleration of Brazil-Saudi relations,” he said. Alzahrani’s plan as the new Arab Chamber Arab director is to work on helping fixing trade barriers.
Another goal is encouraging Brazilians to invest in Saudi Arabia and get to know the economic power of the country, which now presides over G20 and carries out a strong economic development plan called Vision 2030. The businessman mentions restaurants as one of the most promising sectors for Brazilians to invest in Saudi Arabia since Brazilian food is very popular there.
Alzahrani describes Brazil as an important food supplier for Saudi Arabia. During his visit to the country, he also plans on buying beef and poultry. The businessman arrived last week in Brazil and should stay until next week. This is his first time in Brazil.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
