São Paulo – A group of 32 buyers from around 20 countries, among them the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Sudan, should participate on the 17th and 18th in business roundtables at the Abimóvel furniture fair, to take place from the 17th to the 21st at the Anhembi Exhibition Pavilion, in São Paulo. Expectations are for business of around US$ 8 million to be generated at the meetings.
"This should be the largest series of roundtables ever promoted by the sector. They are buyers who are showing interest and who were recommended by companies in the industry," said the president of the Brazilian Furniture Industry Association (Abimóvel), José Luiz Diaz Fernandez. To negotiate with importers, over 80 companies from Brazil have registered for participation in the roundtables. "Expectations are very good," added Fernandez, who hopes deals may be closed immediately.
Of the Arab buyers, two are from Qatar, from companies Fantasia Design & Decoration and Al Jiwan Gallery, one from the Emirates, from Western Furniture, and one from Sudan, from Abu Alfadil Group. "The Arab market is immense and we want closer and closer ties with these countries," said the president at Abimóvel. According to him, the organisation has plans to organise a showroom in Dubai next year. "It is a project that should have been developed this year, but with the crisis we had to postpone it," he added.
Some of the Arab buyers have already come to Brazil, among them the manager at Western Furniture, Mikdad Bhabhrawala, who has already participated in other business roundtables in the sector at other fairs. The company from Dubai has five shops in the Emirates and imports around US$ 2 million in furniture and accessories each year. Another buyer who has already been in Brazil is Jamal Al Hariri, from Fantasia Design & Decoration, one of the main furniture and decoration object suppliers for projects in Qatar.
The business roundtables are part of the Brazilian Furniture project, promoted by Abimóvel in partnership with the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil), and include a series of meetings lasting 30 minutes each. In this edition, around 800 meetings are forecasted among producers and importers.
According to Fernandez, it is very important to bring international buyers to these events. "It is important for them to come and to learn more about the variety of the Brazilian products," he said. The Abimóvel fair should include the participation of 160 exhibitors and receive around 40,000 visitors. Business of around 350 million reals (US$ 191 million) is expected in up to six months after the fair.
Exports
In the first half of the year, Brazilian sector exports totalled US$ 310 million, which represented a reduction of 34.2% over the same period last year. The main destinations were the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Angola and Argentina.
The Abimóvel fair should promote the diversity and tendencies of the sector in Brazil by bringing together several sectors like kitchen, bedroom, office, dining room, upholstered products, mattress, bathroom and infant line products.
Service
Abimóvel fair
Date: August 17th to 21st
Time: from 1:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Site: Anhembi Exhibition Pavilion
Address: Av. Olavo Fontoura, 1,209, São Paulo
Site: www.salaoabimovel.com.br
*Translated by Mark Ament
