The Brazil in the Reconstruction of Iraq fair, which ended Wednesday, September 14,in the city of Amman, Jordan, generated US$ 244.5 million worth of business.
Buyers from 20 countries, including Kuwait, Syria, the Arab Emirates, Libya, and Iraq, participated in the event, which was organized by the Export and Investments Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil).
Of the 14 Brazilian business sectors present at the fair, the ones that attracted the greatest interest, according to the Apex, were food, construction material, and medical and hospital equipment.
Data from the Ministry of Development, Industry, and Foreign Trade show that, in 1985, trade between Brazil and Iraq attained US$ 2.4 billion, comprising US$ 630 million in Brazilian exports and US$ 1.799 billion in Iraqi exports to Brazil.
In 2004 trade between the two countries was down to US$ 534 million: US$ 473 million in Iraqi sales to Brazil and US$ 61 million in Brazilian exports to Iraq.
Through August of this year, the main Brazilian products exported to Iraq in terms of value were cane and beet sugar, frozen chicken, vehicle chassis with diesel motors, and cheese. The predominant Iraqi export to Brazil is petroleum.
ABr