RIYADH: Bandar Alkhorayaf, Saudi Arabia's minister of mines and industry, will visit Brazil and Chile this week, the ministry said on Sunday.
In Brazil, he will meet with politicians to discuss expanding the kingdom's mining capacity, as well as food processing and aviation, while in Chile he will explore the production of lithium needed for batteries for electric vehicles.
“This is in line with the Kingdom’s focus on expanding electric vehicle production,” the Saudi government said in a statement.
Alkhorayaf will land in Brazil on Monday and leave for Chile, the world's second-largest lithium producer, next Sunday.
On the first leg of the tour in Brazil, Alkhorayaf will meet agricultural and industrial groups such as Minerva Foods, JBS and BRF SA, as well as the Brazilian Mining Association and the mining company Vale.
Brazil's Energy Minister Alexandre Silveira said last month that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund plans to invest $15 billion in Brazil in areas such as green hydrogen, infrastructure and renewable energy.
In Chile, the Minister will meet his counterpart Aurora Williams as well as the mining companies Antofagasta and Codelco, a state-owned company tasked with introducing the Chilean government to the lithium industry.
Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, the PIF, and the kingdom's mining company known as Ma'aden, 67 percent of which is owned by the PIF, have formed a joint venture called Manara Minerals to invest in mining assets abroad.
