São Paulo – The agricultural machinery and spare parts industry from the northeast side of the state of Rio Grande do Sul is interested in the Arab market. Executives of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce met with representatives of companies based in the area of Não-Me-Toque, the city hosting the agribusiness expo Expodireto Cotrijal, and they showed interest in exporting to the Arabs. Those companies that already trade with the region want to increase exports.
This Tuesday (6), the Arab market was the topic of both a lecture by the Arab Chamber’s coordinator of Information Management, Marcus Vinícius, and a meeting, this Wednesday (7), between the organization’s executive of Business, Hans Lazarte, with Não-Me-Toque’s secretary of Development, Jair Selomar Kilpp.
The northeast part of Rio Grande do Sul hosts 75% of Brazil’s agricultural machinery and equipment industry and, consequently, the Não-Me-Toque administration is interested in exploring the Arab market. The Arab countries, especially those in Africa, are importers of agricultural machinery. Kilpp also talked about the local grains crop and said he believes that these two types of products – grains and machinery – are of interest to the Arab market.
The meeting between Kilpp and Lazarte was a first contact to analyze joint actions to encourage the trade between the region and the Arab countries. According to the secretary, the meeting was good to provide an indication of what is possible to achieve jointly with the Arab Chamber, regarding the demands of the Arab countries and the production of Não-Me-Toque and region.
Vinícius’s lecture at Expodireto covered the work of the Arab Chamber to boost trade between Brazil and the Arab countries and drew an overview on the current situation of exports to the region, with tips on how to negotiate with Arab businesspersons. The coordinator also invited the audience of around 20 people to attend the Brazil-Arab Countries Economic Forum, scheduled to April 2 at Hotel Unique, in São Paulo, which will discuss the future of these relations.
According to Vinícius, after the lecture, representatives of agricultural machinery companies approached him to know about business possibilities with the Arabs. Lazarte also visited some machinery and grains companies of the region and talked with their executives about sales opportunities to Middle East and North Africa countries, and offered the services of the Arab Chamber. The organization offers memberships.
Expodireto Cotrijal is one of Brazil’s largest trade expos of the agribusiness sector and generates over BRL 2 billion (USD 630 million). Before the fair, the organization was expecting around 250,000 visitors from over 70 countries.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
