Isaura Daniel*
São Paulo – Despite having a strong garment industry, Brazil imports clothes from the Arab countries. In the first ten months of this year, the national retail sector purchased the equivalent to US$ 3.28 million in garments from the countries in the League of Arab States. The volume is not very large, but represents growth of 122% over the same period in 2005. Between January and October last year, Brazil had imported US$ 1.478 million in garments from the region.
The Arabs are not traditional garment makers. Some countries in North Africa and the Middle East, however, have industries turned to the sector. According to the secretary general at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Michel Alaby, among the main Arab producers are Morocco, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Tunisia. The Egyptians and Tunisians are also, incidentally, of international renown in the sector.
Brazil imports various kinds of garments from the Arabs. In the list supplied by the Foreign Trade Secretariat (Secex) are trousers, cloaks, dresses, shirts, overcoats, blazers, sweaters, jackets, skirts, clothes for babies, female suits, T-Shirts, shawls, shorts, nightgowns, pyjamas, female and male bathing suits, suits, dressing gowns, male and female underwear, tracksuits and ties.
Male and female trousers answer to over half of the Brazilian purchases of garments made in the Arab countries between January and October: US$ 1.9 million. They were purchased for various prices, ranging from US$ 0.54 to US$ 99. The cheapest came from the Emirates. According to Alaby, many Chinese companies finish their products in the Arab countries. The Emirates are also great reexporters of products to other countries, including China.
A large part of the trousers imported by Brazil from the Arabs – US$ 744,000 – came from the United Arab Emirates. The country also spent US$ 761,000 on the import of trousers from Morocco and US$ 414,500 in garments from Tunisia. The remaining products came from Jordan and Egypt. Tunisia has strong activities in the garment sector as there are a large number of European factories installed in the country. They produce their products in Tunisia and export them to the European Union (EU), with which the Arab country has a free trade agreement, and also to other regions of the world.
The secretary general at the Arab Brazilian Chamber believes that the clothes imported by Brazil from the Arab countries are also turned to the conservation of religious habits. The cloaks, in fact, appear many times in the list of textile products purchased by Brazil from the Arabs. Immigrants and descendents of Muslim Arabs who live in the country tend to maintain the Islamic traditions. A large part of the women wear their chadors, the dark garment that covers the whole female body, which are made up of a dress and shawl to cover the hair.
*Translated by Mark Ament
