The United Arab Emirates’ state-owned EDGE Group announced its partial acquisition of a Brazilian weapons firm on Friday, another sign of growing cooperation between Brazil and the UAE as the latter moves to join BRICS.
The EDGE Group, a defense technology firm, acquired a 50% stake in SIATT, a Brazilian high-tech weapons systems company. The deal was signed at SIATT’s headquarters in the southeastern city of Sao Jose dos Campos, according to an EDGE press release.
EDGE Group CEO and managing director Mansour AlMulla called Brazil a part of the company’s “Latin America development roadmap.”
The company did not disclose the financials of the acquisition, which follows the EDGE Group’s signing of a strategic partnership in June with the Brazilian navy to develop missile technology. The company said the deal with SIATT is “part of” that partnership.
Why it matters: The deal represents another sign of strengthening ties between the UAE and Brazil, the largest economy in South America. In April, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visited the UAE, where he met with his Emirati counterpart, Mohammed bin Zayed. During the visit, the two countries signed deals focused on energy and sustainability and worth more than $2.5 billion.
UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem bint Ebrahim Al Hashimy also led a delegation to Brazil in June.
In August, the BRICS group offered membership to the UAE along with Egypt, Iran and Saudi Arabia among others. Brazil is already a member of BRICS along with China, India, Russia and South Africa. The group focuses on political and economic cooperation.
Earlier this month, the UAE and Brazil launched a partnership to share economic expertise.
Trade between the two countries is on the rise. Their bilateral non-oil trade amounted to more than $4 billion in 2022, up 32% from the previous year, according to the official Emirates News Agency.
Know more: Brazil has been engaging more with the UAE and Saudi Arabia since Lula returned to office in January. Competition between the Gulf states is driving interest in Brazil, Sam Wendel wrote in a Memo for Al-Monitor PRO in August.
Source : Al-Monitor
