Marina Sarruf*
São Paulo – Egyptian businessmen who are participating in the Hospitalar, the largest medical and hospital product fair in Latin America, which is taking place in São Paulo, southeastern Brazil, want to sign an agreement with the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce to make possible the licensing of some sector products. "We are going to study a partnership together with the Egyptian commercial office to provide support to the exporters," stated the president of the Arab Brazilian Chamber, Antonio Sarkis Jr. According to him, the agreement should be signed up to Friday (23), when the fair ends.
Sarkis says that Egyptian medical and hospital sector products have competitive prices and quality, mainly in the case of disposable products. In all, 16 Egyptian companies are exhibiting at the fair, which began yesterday (20). Among the products exhibited are herbal medicine, syringes, surgical masks and caps, dressings, catheters and orthopaedic, cardiology, urology, dialysis and image diagnosing equipment as well as chemicals for laboratory tests.
To the head of the Egyptian delegation, Sherif Ezzat, the best route for the products of the Arab country to enter the Brazilian market is through a distributor. After this partnership it is necessary to license the products and equipment according to norms stipulated by the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa). "We also want the support of the Arab Brazilian Chamber to promote our products in Brazil," he said.
Yesterday, the Egyptian stand, which covers an area of 205 square metres, was visited by the Egyptian ambassador in Brazil, Mohamed Abdel Fattah Abdalla, the commercial consul of Egypt in São Paulo, Mohamed Bakri Agami, the vice president of international relations at the Arab Brazilian Chamber, Helmi Mohammed Ibrahim Nasr, as well as Sarkis. "This is the first time that an Egyptian delegation in the medical-hospital sector participates in a fair in Brazil. It is a good start to increasing exports from Egypt to the region," stated Abdalla.
On the first day of the fair, the Egyptian businessmen made over 30 contacts. "We made very positive contacts. We hope to find a distributor," stated the quality control manager at N.I.D Medical Co., Mohamed Baz. The company produces creams and gels for electrodes, rolls of paper for tests and intravenous products for tests.
Another businessman who was very pleased with his first day at the fair was the commercial manager at Ameco, Ahmed H. Wahby. The company is the greatest maker of disposable syringes in the Middle East and has a monthly productive capacity of 12 million syringes. "Up to now we export to seven African countries and Saudi Arabia. We also want to enter the Latin American market and have decided to start through Brazil," he said.
According to Wahby, around 20% of production is exported. The company has plans to open a new factory in Egypt to supply the foreign market. In the beginning we should produce four million syringes and in two years increase this total to 15 million. "For this reason I am seeking a distributor for our products in Brazil who may help us register them," he said.
According to Wahby, the Brazilians have good and friendly relations with the Arabs, and this simplifies negotiations. "I do not feel outside Egypt," he said. The businessman was impressed with the volume of Arab descendants in the country, over 10 million. Ameco was established in 1986 and employs 400 people.
13th edition
Hospitalar, the international fair of products, equipment and services for hospitals, laboratories, clinics and offices, is the largest health sector fair in Latin America and the second largest in the world. The fair receives 1,000 exhibitors from 32 countries. Among the Arab countries, apart from Egypt, there is an exhibitor from the United Arab Emirates that came to promote an international conference on medicare and diagnosis, to take place between April 22 and 24, 2007, in Dubai.
According to the president of the Brazilian Association of the Manufacturers of Medical and Dental Products (Abimo), Djalma Rodrigues, sector exports totalled US$ 398.5 million last year, against US$ 317.8 million in 2004.
*Translated by Mark Ament
