KUWAIT CITY, Sept 7: The Brazilian Ambassador to Kuwait Norton de Andrade Rapesta said Kuwait is one of the most important importers of Brazil’s food exports, reports Al-Rai daily. He disclosed the Brazilian Minister of Agriculture and Livestock will visit Kuwait from Sept 17 to 19 accompanied by a delegation of from the Brazilian Food Authority and businessmen. Rapesta said during a press conference at the embassy of his country that the visit will discuss ways of cooperation and mutual investment.

He praised the economic and trade relations between Brazil and Kuwait, considering that Kuwait is one of the most important importers of food commodities, mainly chicken. He said he was surprised by the media focus on the fires in Brazil’s Amazon forests and accusations slapped against his country accusing it of deliberate fires to expand the area for agricultural land, and calls for the NGOs to intervene to protect the forest in his country. He pointed to several reasons saying the fires have become an annual and accused the dry season.

The nature of the land in the Amazon forests is desert and not agricultural, pointing out that the media or these organizations did not talk about fires spreading in regions of the world, such as Siberia or the United States or Europe, “and this confirms there are some motives behind these claims,” he said. He predicted the fires will be extinguished completely by October at the end of the dry season, noting 2,500 soldiers are currently combating the fl ames with 15 aircraft, 10 ships and 210 trucks to put out the forest fire, which covers 60 percent of the country’s estimated 8.5 million square kilometers.