Islamic Finance Event Hosted in São Paulo by NBAD
Angela Martins, Regional Manager for Latin America for the National Bank of Abu Dhabi delivered a lecture to the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce for in São Paulo, titled “The Islamic financial market”.
The use of Islamic financial instruments such as Murabaha were discussed as means for Brazilian exporters to offer Sharia compliant transactions to Muslim customers. “This transaction could be done with a Brazilian exporter. He could sell the product to an Islamic creditor who could pay in cash and then sell it in instalments to an Arab Buyer,” Martins said. “The goal is to prevent speculation from taking place,”
Nearly 60 people from member companies of the Arab Chamber attended the workshop promoted by the organization. Trading companies, food producers, law firms and retail and investment banks were represented at the event. “It’s a new topic and we have to better understand how Islamic finances work. Today, we had the opportunity to improve our knowledge”, said the Arab Chamber’s CEO, Michel Alaby.
Expanding Trade Ties
Brazil is a large emerging market whose GDP nearly trebled from $800 Billion in 2005 to $2.4 Trillion in 2011. With a large population of 202 million, it has a growing trade relationship with OIC countries with Saudi Arabia being its 20th largest trade partner whilst it enjoys large trade surpluses with UAE, Indonesia and Iran.
According to the Brazilian Islamic Federation, there are about 1.5 million Muslims living in Brazil, and it is a big producer of halal meat most of which is exported.
