JEDDAH: The recent trade agreements between Saudi Arabia and Brazil — which came with Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva’s landmark visit to the Kingdom recently — is an example of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority’s (SAGIA) agenda to implement its so-called 10X10 initiative, which aims to make Saudi Arabia among the top ten most competitive nations by 2010.
Lula da Silva’s visit to the Kingdom resulted in the two countries agreeing to use each other as regional trading hubs: Brazil for the Kingdom’s efforts in Latin America and Saudi Arabia for Brazil’s strategy in the Middle East and North Africa region.
During the first visit of a Brazilian leader to Saudi Arabia, Lula da Silva met with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and SAGIA Gov. Amr Al-Dabbagh.
In 2008, trade between the two countries topped 2007 figures by 71 percent, reaching SR12.6 billion. The increase in trade revenues came from major exports by the Kingdom to Brazil, including sulfur, liquefied propane, aviation fuel, scrap aluminum, fertilizers, polyethylene and crude.
