Celso Amorim, Brazil's foreign minister, is back in Tunis, the Tunisian capital, to meet with prime minister Mohammed Ghannouchi, and with the minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdelwahab Abdallah. This is Amorim's third visit to the Arab country.
He will also see the minister of Defense, Kamel Morjane, and with the president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Donald Kaberuka.
According to information supplied by the Foreign Ministry of Brazil (Itamaraty), the foreign minister should discuss several themes in Tunis, like the special attention to the phosphate area, defense, agricultural cooperation, participation in AfDB projects, the visit of minister Abdelwahab Abdallah to Brazil and the next meeting of the mixed bilateral committee, to take place this year.
In the case of phosphates, Brazil is a great importer of the product, used in the production of fertilizers, and a client of Tunisia. North Africa is a traditional producer and exporter of the product. Vale is participating in a tender for exploration of phosphates in the Arab country.
The minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, of Brazil, Miguel Jorge, said, during a trip to Tunisia, that the tender in which Vale is participating is for a project estimated at between US$ 2 billion and US$ 2.5 billion and involves the transfer of technology to the country. According to diplomatic sources, Vale is one of the companies pre-qualified and the end result should come out up to the end of the year.
With the AfDB, which is headquartered in Tunis, Amorim should talk about the participation of Brazil in projects by the bank. There are already negotiations in progress involving the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) and the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), within the scope of South-South cooperation.
Another theme to be discussed is expansion of the bank's capital. Brazil has a framework agreement with the AfDB and is a minority partner in the institution, with an 0.47% share. According to information disclosed by the Itamaraty, this means US$ 15 million in paid-in capital. The country, however, has already contributed US$ 200 million to the AfDB, connected to the African Development Fund, connected to the bank, which has a Brazilian, connected to the Ministry of Planning, on its board of directors.
According to the Itamaraty, apart from funds, Brazil may offer its experience in public policies turned to food safety, mother's and children's health and the fight to endemic diseases, rural electrification, sanitation and other basic services.
Still in the area of cooperation, there are initiatives by Embrapa and the Tunisian Ministry of Agriculture in the area of irrigation and eucalyptus farming, according to the Itamaraty.
In the defense area, there is interest in bilateral cooperation in trade missions and in the training of personnel, as well as the sale of war material from Brazil to the country in North Africa.
Last year, bilateral trade between Brazil and Tunisia reached US$ 437.6 million, being US$ 221.2 in Brazilian exports and US$ 216.4 million in Tunisian sales.
The main items shipped by Brazil were sugar, soy oil, coffee, corn, aluminum, wheat, beef, corn oil, steel laminates and tractors. The products most traded by Tunisia were phosphates, aluminum fluorides, electrical cables for vehicles, aluminum residues and synthetic tape and fiber.
Anba