São Paulo – The Arab Brazilian Chamber is participating in the 12th Medibat, a fair in the building sector in Sfax, in Tunisia, starting on Wednesday (6). The fair should attract buyers from North Africa, where there are other Arab countries like Libya, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Mauritania, Sudan and Somalia. "There are business possibilities, mainly in the broader market,” said the Foreign Trade vice president at the Arab Brazilian Chamber, Rubens Hannun, who is in the country participating in the event, alongside the Government Relations executive at the organisation, Tamer Mansour.
The Arab Brazilian Chamber will have an institutional stand at the fair, together with the Brazilian Foreign Office. The objective is to open market for Brazilian construction in North Africa and to bring, after participation, contacts and business opportunities for Brazilian companies in the area. Hannun recalls that Libya is under reconstruction and that Algeria has great housing needs. In Tunisia, according to the Foreign Trade vice president at the Chamber, the economy is recovering. The fair ends on Saturday (09).
The idea of participation in the fair arose after contact by the Arab Brazilian Chamber with the Sfax Chamber of Commerce and Industry, last year. At the opportunity, both organisations signed cooperation agreements. Medibat should have 500 exhibitors and 80,000 visitors. Also participating are exhibitors from Tunisia, Portugal, France, Turkey, Italy, Egypt, Qatar, Libya, Spain, Belgium, China, Greece, Iran, Germany and Switzerland. The Sfax Chamber of Commerce and Industry promotes the fair. Apart from the exhibition area, there should also be a forum for discussion.
Brazil had revenues of US$ 351 million in exports to Tunisia last year, but building products are not high in the basket. The same takes place in sales from there to the Brazilian market, which totalled US$ 137 million in 2012, mainly fertilizers. Food tops the list of products sold by Brazil to the market in North Africa as a whole. There are, however, some Brazilian construction companies working in the region, like Queiroz Galvão, Andrade Gutierrez and Odebrecht, in Libya. Some, like Andrade Gutierrez, also worked on projects in other nations in the surrounding countries, like Algeria.
*Translated by Mark Ament
