Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor Shalom Simhon left for Brazil on Saturday night at the head of a delegation from 20 Israeli telecommunications companies. Simhon will meet senior Brazilian economic officials and the executives of leading companies, including energy giant Petrobras SA (Bovespa PETR3; NYSE: PBR, PBRA) and aircraft manufacturer Embraer SA (Bovespa: EMBR3) NYSE: ERJ), which has extensive business ties with Elbit Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: ESLT; TASE: ESLT).
Simhon said that he will try to promote the adoption of Israeli technologies in upcoming international sports events that Brazil will host in the next few years, including the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. "Our objective is to strengthen relations with Brazil and to examine ways to fulfill the potential of commerce with it, by promoting the involvement of Israeli companies in projects related to the planned sports events," he said.
Before leaving, Simhon said, "I intend to try to consolidate and deepen the trade infrastructure between the Israeli and Brazilian economies, because by 2020, Brazil will likely become of the world's five largest economies."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 16, 2011
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