17.74$billion Brazil's exports to Arab countries

Tamer Mansour, the general secretary and CEO of the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (CCAB), revealed that Brazilian exports to Arab countries achieved record revenues during 2022, amounting to $17.74bn, an increase of 23.06% over 2021. These revenues represent the best result in the historical series that began in 1989.

He pointed out that agricultural exports had the lion's share, as they accounted for 70.87% of the revenues achieved throughout the year, with a total of $12.57bn, an increase of 40.74% over the previous year. The most prominent products exported to the Arab region were sugar, poultry parts, iron ore, corn, soybeans, and livestock parts.

He explained that the United Arab Emirates was the most importing Arab country from Brazil in 2022, as it imported the equivalent of $3.26bn, with a growth rate of 40.09% during 2021. In second place came the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with a total of $2.92bn, an increase of 41.26%. In third place came Egypt, with $2.84bn, a growth of 41.2%, followed by Algeria with $1.92bn, an increase of 26.35%, and Bahrain with $1.41bn.

He drew attention to the increase in Arab sales to Brazil in 2022, which grew to $15.04bn, an increase of 53.37% over 2021. The total trade flow last year (total exports and imports) between Brazil and the Arab League countries reached an unprecedented mark of $32.78bn, with a positive balance for the Brazilian side of $2.71bn.

The conflict also led to the restriction of global supplies of grains, especially corn and wheat, and the result was that the Arabs sought these products and other suppliers who had goods available, which led to higher prices than inflation of 5.79%, according to IBGE, with a continued preference for profits due to the depreciation of the Riyal," he said.

Early vaccination against COVID-19 in the Gulf helped restart stopover tourism, spurred by Formula 1 awards across the region, and Expo 2020 Dubai between 2021 and 2022, in addition to the Club World Cup and the resumption of the Islamic Hajj ceremonies, which historically are events that require food.

The FIFA World Cup in Qatar, by attracting one million fans to the host country and neighboring countries, helped boost sales of Brazilian food, especially animal proteins, in the months leading up to the event in November and December.

Mansour called for the continuation of food shipments at an accelerated pace in the first months of 2023 due to preparations for the month of Ramadan, stressing that the Arabs will remain important buyers of Brazilian food.

At the same time, he noted that it is clear that the Arabs are investing heavily to reduce dependence on foreign food, so our task is to search for space .in the added value categories