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Convention & Visitors Bureau/ Chamber of Commerce
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Welcome from the President
"On behalf of the business
community of our town, I have the pleasure to extend
you, who now visits this Official Tourism Website
of Ouro Preto, old colonial Vila Rica, our warmly
welcome, inviting you to come personally to know
and to experience one of the most significant
monuments of Brazil´s history, three centuries
old."
Márcio Abdo de Freitas
President
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Short History of the
Chamber of Commerce
In the middle of the 1930´s, the urge of associating on the part of the shop owners of old Vila Rica comes into reality under the leadership of two precursors: Manoel Felipe Ribeiro Belo and Levindo Barbosa Leite.
On january 28th, 1934, the session of foundation of the CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (Associação Comercial Industrial e Agropecuária de Ouro Preto-ACIAOP) is held at the Cine Central movie theater, when a preliminary commission is formed with Levindo Barbosa Leite, José Cândido Gonçalves and Geraldino Dias.
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The draft of the bylaws is presented on february 4th, 1934 and appointed the first board of directors and counselors.
In a session held at the City Hall on february 8th, 1934, Dr. João Batista Ferreira Veloso, mayor of the time, officially installs the board of directors composed of Washington de Araújo Dias, president; José da Costa Carvalho, vice-president; Antônio Ramos, vice-president; José Amarante Neves, secretary; Geraldo Ramos, secretary; João Batista Fortes, treasurer; Levindo Barbosa Leite, solicitor.
As of february, 25th, resolution is passed toward direct elections for the board of directors that eventually confirmed in office, on march 4th, the members of that first board.
The efforts directed toward the construction of the headquarters building succeeded on may 19th, when the associates obtain a permit from the City Hall to erect a building on the place where once stood the old house that belonged to "TIRADENTES", leader of the would-be revolution of colonial Vila Rica.
The construction of the headquarters was financed by means of a loan raised among the associates, in the amount of 80.000$000 (eighty contos de réis, the currency of the time). The solemn session of inauguration is held on the 26th of april of 1935.
In seventy three years of activities, prominent personalities of the Ouro Preto business community have directed the destinies of the Chamber, leading it to reach a great stand as a business representative organization and substantial political, economical and social prestige in its diverse fields of actions along the different periods of the economic history of Ouro Preto.
Today, when the strength of tourism represents a new economic cycle for old Vila Rica, as mining and metallurgy had represented in the previous three hundred years, the CHAMBER OF COMMERCE continues to contribute in an expressive way for the economic and social development of its community, with valuable initiatives such as this Ouro Preto Official Tourism Website, devised by its Cultural Institute (AC CULTURAL) to serve as a communication tool of the Convention & Visitors Bureau, sharing with all the world the riches and the culture of this town that is an UNESCO´s Cultural Heritage of Mankind.
Chamber of Commerce
Rua São José 132 - Centro - Cep 35400-000 - Ouro Preto - MG - Brazil
Telefax: 55 31 3551-1469
e-mail: atendimento@ouropreto.org.br
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