Dubai: Brazil to unveil opportunities for sustainable use of Amazon

Brazil’s vice-President Hamilton Mourão in Dubai today (Sep. 1) said that Brazil needs to seize the chance provided by Expo 2020 to showcase to foreigners the business opportunities that the sustainable use of Brazil’s natural heritage may provide. The statement was made during the official inauguration ceremony of the country’s pavilion at the world expo that started today in the United Arab Emirates.

“Investment attraction and the generation of employment and income in the Amazon are key to the conservation of the forest,” said Mourão, pointing out that, for the coming six months, the pavilion will serve to showcase Brazil’s potential to the world.

According to the vice-president, the message Brazil wants to bring to the Expo 2020 is linked to sustainability, which is the theme the Expo 2020 district where Brazil’s pavilion is located. “Brazil is a country that produces clean energy, with over 60 percent of its territory covered by original vegetation, with know-how in clean fuels. This is the message we want to make clear, at a moment everyone has their eyes on these issues.”

Seeking to improve the country’s global image, Mourão said the country uses a mere eight percent of its territory for food production and that, nonetheless, it manages to feed over 1 billion people across the world. “We have to intensify this discourse in a clear manner and also reiterate our commitment with our duties, established countrywide, to meet the world’s goals of mitigating global warming.”

In the vice-president’s view, the criticism on the way Brazil has handled the Amazon is unfounded. “Much is said based on small sections of the Amazon. The Amazon is vast. Most people across the world have no idea of its magnitude. The Amazon biome alone is nearly half our territory. We have to show the reality of the Amazon.”

Arab countries

Mourão noted that Brazil needs to advance its relations with Arab nations and benefit from the potential market for Brazilian food and agricultural technology in the region.

“I’ve just come from Egypt. Egypt has only eight percent of its territory available for productive activity, so food security there is a serious problem. As for Brazil, we have two topics: the provision of food and the technology we have—i.e., added value. Our agribusiness is highly technological,” he said.

*The reporter as well as the photographer, Marcelo Camargo, traveled by invitation of Apex-Brasil.