São Paulo – Representatives of eight companies and institutions in the building sector in four Arab countries are in Brazil to learn about the country’s products, like ceramic tiles, stone and bathroom ceramics. They are participating in the Buyer Project, organized by the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex) in partnership with the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce.
Executives from Oman, Qatar, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates visited the Arab Brazilian Chamber offices on Tuesday morning (6), where they met the organisation’s CEO, Michel Alaby. "They showed interest in learning about opportunities for the supply of Brazilian products, mainly in the tile sector,” said Alaby. "The idea is also to show other items in the building sector. Certainly, this mission will open a new gateway for business with the Arab countries,” he said.
"Our main objective is to visit building sector companies here in Brazil and to explore the business opportunities,” said Baria Abu Ghosh, executive manager of consultancy company Archisys, from Jordan. "We want to select material for our projects or maybe establish partnerships with companies here,” reveals the executive.
Rick Sassin, the project manager at consultancy company Keo, from Qatar, says the company doesn’t usually recommend Brazilian products for the projects in which it operates and added that this trip is a good opportunity to learn about the material produced in Brazil.
"We follow high quality standards and I am certain that Brazilian products follow these standards. We have already used Brazilian material in previous projects, but we now want to guarantee long-term partnerships with producers here,” said Sassin.
To the CEO at the Oman Society of Contractors, Salim Al Sheedi, "there is great potential in the Omani market for the use of Brazilian material.” "There is not much Brazilian material imported to the local market. For the time being, we use Brazilian iron, bathroom ceramics and also some chemical products. The potential is very great and it is time for Brazilian businessmen to tap the Omani market,” he pointed out.
The agenda of the Arabs includes visits to tile and bathroom ceramic factories and also a visit to Itaquerão stadium, to be used for the opening of the Brazilian World Cup, in 2014. They are going to stay in Brazil up to the end of this week.
*Translated by Mark Ament
