Dubai – The Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex) unit in Dubai is working on improving the market intelligence area aiming at attracting further companies to the market in the Middle East.
Currently, the demand for research about the market in the region is developed in partnership with the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce. However, the Apex wants to offer more detailed studies, showing a portrait of the market to interested companies.
Karen Lynn, the operations assistant at the Apex office in Dubai, explains that the unit in Miami already develops this kind of study, and that the team in Dubai should travel to the United States to offer a course in the area.
Fabiana Giuntini, the Apex manager in Dubai, points out that the development of the market intelligence area is a constant aim of the agency’s. “We always want to provide more and more detailed information regarding the needs of companies.”
Currently, the office in the Middle East houses 11 Brazilian companies in the sector of auto parts, cosmetics, medical and dentistry equipment, trading companies and digital equipment.
According to Fabiana, the presence of these companies in Dubai is an important differential, as the emirate is a distribution hub to the Arab market. “Among all industries in Brazil, those here are one step ahead regarding business with the Arabs.”
The Apex offers follow-up of the entire opening process for companies interested in establishing offices in Dubai. “It is not bureaucratic. It is a trade license that you renew each year,” said Fabiana regarding the space in the free zone. To open a business outside the area, it is necessary for a local partner to have 51% participation in the company.
“Having a local partner, you can open anything,” said Fabiana. The exceptions are to the areas of alcoholic beverages, tobacco and weapons, which have different rules.
Despite not mentioning figures, the Apex manager stated that there is significant expansion in the volume of business of companies installed in Dubai. “The companies that are here get new clients and improve their relations with their old ones.”
Contact
Apex office in Dubai
Contact: Fabiana Giuntini
E-mail: fabiana.giuntini@apexbrasil.com.br
*Translated by Mark Ament
