YEREVAN. - There has not been Brazilian investment in Armenia in any substantial way. Ambassador of Brazil to Armenia Edson Marinho Duarte Monteiro told the aforementioned in an interview with Armenian News – NEWS.am.

According to the Ambassador, Brazil and Armenia have a relation that is still growing. “I believe that there is a lot we could do. Brazil has invested in many countries in areas that are present in the Armenian economy, such as agriculture, mining, and several kinds of financial services. But again I have the impression that there has not been a lot of promotion of Armenian investment opportunities for Brazilian exporters, importers and other companies that could come and work here,” he said.

Nevertheless, in the Ambassador’s words, something special happened this year: one of the biggest Brazilian exporting companies, Magnesita, which is very active in the mining sector and also produces some very special industrial components, has started working with Armenian companies.

 “What they are doing in Armenia is very important. They are working with companies which produce steel and cement. They produce a kind of brick, special brick which has to be used inside of ovens, for example, where you burn material to make cement. So this is actually not just an export; it’s more of a partnership that is created between the Brazilian and Armenian companie,” Edson Marinho Duarte Monteiro stressed.

Two big Brazilian companies in the field of agriculture - Sadia and Perdigão, which are working together now - are present in Armenia. “They are now big players around the world and have production in the United States and Asia,” the diplomat said.

According to him, the most important change would be contacts. “How do you make contacts? You have to come to Brazil. “Brazil is very far”, people would tell me. So don’t come to Brazil: go to very important trade fares in Europe: Germany, Italy and France. Look if there are any Brazilian companies there. Probably there will be such in many cases, because that’s how they operate. So you can come to Europe to meet them. There are Brazilian companies with offices in Dubai, in the Middle East and also Moscow. We have a lot of Brazilian companies working in Russia. So I think that what is lacking is some [kind of] decision. In terms of investment and trade, the relations are not yet at the level we would like them to be. But there are possibilities,” the Ambassador concluded.