H.E. Mr. Sergio Luiz Canaes.

Ambassador of Brazil

to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,

and the Republic of Yemen

Saudi-Brazil bi-lateral relations:


Diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Brazil were established in 1968 and in 1973 both countries opened their embassies. Brazilian Embassy was opened initially in Jeddah and later moved to Riyadh in 1986.  Following the opening of the embassies by both countries, an agreement for Economic and Technical Cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Brazil was signed in Brasilia on 2 April, 1975.  The other major agreements singed are Basic Agreement for Scientific and Technical Cooperation between the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil and the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, singed in Brasilia on 13 August 1981 and Protocol on industrial-military cooperation between the government of the Federative Republic of Brazil and the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia signed in Brasilia in 1984.

The Custodian of the two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud visited Brazil while he was the crown prince, in 2000 and several Ministerial levels visits to and from Brazil were taken place prior to this visit and after. Aside from this, there were several business, technical and official delegation visits to Saudi Arabia from Brazil and vice versa. Last year, the Brazilian Embassy participated in the two local trade fairs (Saudi Build Group and Saud Agriculture & Food Group). In 2009, Brazil was the ‘Guest of Honour’ at the International Book Fair organized by the Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information. Six academicians and writers were also participated in the seminar took place during this Fair.

The presence of Brazilian community in Saudi Arabia, though not in significant number compared to the total size of expatriate community, are mainly professionals and other members of staff associated with football, Information Technology and Aviation.

The Arab community in Brazil is made up mainly of Syrians and Lebanese, although there are immigrants from practically all Arab nations in the country. Today the Arab community, their children and grandchildren in Brazil total 12 million people. They started arriving in Brazil in the nineteenth century. Their culture, customs and entrepreneurship can be seen in the Brazilian industry, cuisine, music, and vocabulary. Arab immigrants and their descendants total 6.5% of the Brazilian population. Some examples of Arabic words incorporated into the Brazilian vocabulary: alface (lettuce), almanaque (almanac), alfaiate (tailor), bazar (bazaar), mascate (travelling salesman), almofada (cushion), alcaide (mayor), arroz (rice), açúcar (sugar), alfombra (curtain).

Multilateral relations:

The GCC-Mercosul Free Trade Agreement negotiation is in progress and the GCC-Secretary General His Excellency Mr. Abdulrahman Al-Attiyah  will pay a courtesy call to the President of Brazil.

Another major development in the multilateral relation is the Arab-South American Summit, initiated by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2003. The second summit was held in Doha, Qatar on 31 March 2009. The firs Arab-South American summit was held in Brazil on 11 May 2005. The objective of Arab-South American Summit stated in the ‘Brasilia Declaration’ is :  “ Declare that they share the objective of drawing up an agenda for sustainable economic and social development to be pursued bi-regionally in a coordinated way through the relevant regional and international fora” .

The declaration highlighted the objectives under the titles as follows: Strengthening of Bi-Regional Cooperation, Multilateral Relations, Peace and Security, Cultural Cooperation, Economic Cooperation, International Trade, International Financial System, Sustainable Development; Development of South-South Cooperation; Cooperation in Science and Technology and Information Society; Action against Hunger and Poverty; Support Development and Social Issues and Mechanism for Cooperation.

Trade relations:

The total trade of Saudi Arabia and Brazil has crossed the barrier of 5.5 billion US Dollars in 2008. In 2007 the total trade of the two countries was 3.2 billion US Dollars. The exports of Saudi Arabia to Brazil in 2008 was 2.9 billion US Dollars and in 2007 1.7 billion US Dollars. The exports of Brazil to Saudi Arabia in 2008 was 2.6 billion US Dollars and in 2007 1.5 billion US Dollars. In 2010 Brazil's exports to Saudi Arabia reached 3 billion US Dollars.

The major item of Saudi export to Brazil is Crude oil which was amounted to 2 billion US Dollars in 2010 and 1.5 billion US Dollars in 2007. Sulphur, liquefied propane, aviation fuel, aluminium scrap, petrochemicals, fertilizers and polyethylene are the other major items of exports of Saudi Arabia to Brazil.

Brazilian exports to Saudi Arabia are mainly poultry, iron ore, sugar, airplanes, beef, animal feeds, equipment and machinery, iron and steel, automobile and automobile parts and other food products. Following is the statistics of the Saudi-Brazil trade flow and Brazil’s trade with all the countries.

Saudi-Brazil Trade (Value in US$ millions)

Brazil’s trade with all the countries (Value in US$ billions - FOB)