São Paulo – Sudan has opportunities to develop its agriculture, but needs to promote investment and improve management of its agribusiness. According to the final statement of the Sudanese Mining and Food Security Forum, released this Thursday (11th) in Khartoum, the North African country must also solve the United States’ funding boycott, enforce legal certainty of contracts, seek out international cooperation and develop its infrastructure.
The Forum took place on Wednesday and Thursday this week and was sponsored by the General Union of Arab Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture. The event was attended by business executives, government officials and delegates from the Arab Chambers of Commerce in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, Mauritania, Qatar, Jordan, Lebanon, Germany, Belgium, Australia, Austria and Greece. The Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce was represented by its CEO, Michel Alaby.
According to Alaby, on Thursday, the event featured panels focusing on food security and ways to increase agricultural production in Sudan. The meeting was opened by the Egyptian minister of Supply and Domestic Trade, Khaled Hanify, who said Sudan’s natural resources must be managed wisely. He advised on the creation of cooperative-like condominium systems for production and sale of agricultural products. He also suggested that a futures and commodities exchange be established by Arab countries, in order to provide funding to small and medium farmers.
Alaby also reported that the forum’s final statement outlines suggestions for the public and private sectors to foster the development of agriculture and mining in Sudan. One of the issues is legal uncertainty. “The laws are changed constantly and arbitration is not employed when it comes to contracts. When it comes to government-to-government negotiations, such as between China and Sudan, rules are more stable, but between government and private enterprises, contracts get breached and it takes as long as four years before claims are tried in first instance,” said Alaby.
The Brazilian example
At the summit, Alaby presented Brazilian projects and figures in agriculture and livestock production. Brazil’s grain crop amounted to 200 million tonnes in 2014 and may be as high asd 400 million tonnes by 2020. The country has implemented the Bolsa Família income transfer program to assist the neediest, as well as social projects targeting small farmers. In turn, Brazil requires further financing projects for small farmers, minimum price guarantees for agriculture and livestock products and surplus production purchases by government.
Alaby said that following the meeting, attendees met with the Sudanese vice president, Bakry Ahmad Hassan.
Social responsibility
This Thursday also saw the annual forum of secretary generals and CEOs of Arab and foreign chambers of commerce. At the forum, the secretary general of the General Union of Arab Chambers of Commerce, industry and Agriculture, Emad Shehab, introduced the Union’s new president, Mohamedou Ould Mohamed Mahmoud, who also chairs the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Mauritania.
The theme of this year’s forum was the social responsibilities of Arab chambers and sponsoring entrepreneurship. At the event, Shehab said the General Union will enter into a partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (Unido) to support Arab business incubators. Towards the end of this month, the Unido is set to hold an event showcasing incubator success cases.
At the forum, Alaby discussed social and professional development projects carried out by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, such as Programa Jovem Aprendiz (Young Apprentice Program), Programa de Estágio Remunerado (Paid Internship Program) and clothes donations to impoverished people.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
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