From the Newsroom
São Paulo – Today (October 16) the English ANBA site is released. The site is targeted at government representatives, diplomatic corps, entrepreneurs, investors, economists, and market analysts in the 22 Arab countries interested in access to news about Brazil. In this manner, the news agency is attempting to establish direct communication between Brazilians and Arabs.
Through partnerships with Arab news agencies, the articles published online may be printed in newspapers, magazines, or may be aired by radio and television stations in the countries.
In this respect, ANBA has become an efficient tool for narrowing commercial relations with Arab nations, a goal set by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (CCAB), by the Brazilian government and by various areas of the private sector.
To CCAB president Paulo Sérgio Atallah, ANBA was designed to strengthen the Brazilian product brand abroad. "On my constant trips to the Arab world, I have clearly seen the lack of Brazilian knowledge regarding trade possibilities with that market. The opposite is also true", he says.
For development, industry and foreign commerce minister Luiz Fernando Furlan, ANBA fills the great demand there is for information, "essential in the Brazilian government efforts to intensify trade relations with Arab countries".
To the minister, the agency is only the beginning of this communications effort: "We may, in future, not only have a news agency, but also a Brazilian television channel entering Arab homes and delivering culture, sport and Brazilian news. This would also be, to some extent, showing how affairs between Brazil and the Arab world have developed".
Marco Aurélio Garcia, foreign policy adviser to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, agrees. "If we are after exchange between these two cultures, these two worlds, it must be based, to a large extent, on greater information exchange, on greater knowledge, be it political, business, or social", he explained.
A brilliant idea
To Arab authorities, the idea of setting up ANBA has also been well received. "It is an excellent idea for deepening relations between Brazil and the Arab countries", stated the secretary-general of the Union of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture for Arab Countries, Elias Ghantous.
Ghantous believes that information is essential in business, social, or political decision taking. "I could also add that information has become a factor of great importance in productive activity. Without information, it is impossible to match modern productive techniques, and produce items that are up to quality specifications demanded by local, regional and international markets", stated the secretary-general.
And he concluded: "Business between Brazil and Arab countries may increase considerably due to greater communication between both sides".
