São Paulo – Arab importers are setting up business deals at the 15th Expodireto Cotrijal, an agribusiness fair which opened this Monday (10th) in the city of Não-Me-Toque, located in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. According to the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce’s Government Relations manager Tamer Mansour, the delegates from four Arab companies who have been invited by the event’s organizers have engaged in approximately 40 meetings with Brazilian companies. The fair ends this Friday (14th).
The importers attending Expodireto Cotrijal represent the Alanwar Trading Company, from Iraq, Onab Trade, from Algeria, Gusto Distribution, from Oman, and Koutobia Holding, from Morocco. Arab Brazilian Chamber professionals have accompanied the executives at the fair and during a visit to a local poultry company, Agrodanieli. The Arabs have also attended dinners offered by the Carazinho and Canoas city halls.
According to Mansour, the fair features large numbers of agricultural equipment exhibitors, and therefore the import manager for Alanwar, Anwer Habesh Mech, was in high demand and made lots of business contacts. Alanwar distributes harvesters, tractors and their parts on the Iraqi market. The other importers have also made promising contacts and discussed potential deals at the event.
The poultry company Agrodanieli was visited by the purchase director at Koutobia Holding, Omar Iraqi, and the general manager of Gusto Distribution, Imran Ikram. According to Mansour, they spoke with the poultry company’s executives regarding eventual partnerships. Koutobia is the leading meats manufacturing company in Morocco, and discussed the possibility of importing, processing and distributing poultry products from Agrodanieli.
Expodireto Cotrijal is on its way to becoming one of the leading agribusiness fairs in Brazil. As of last Thursday, over 200,000 people had visited the fair. The event featured 505 exhibitors from various industries, such as agricultural machinery, fertilizers, and grain, and hosted debates on the dairy industry and the participation of young people in Brazilian agricultural cooperatives. Apart from the Arab importers, Expodireto Cotrijal received visitors from other countries, such as Argentina, Colombia and Uruguay.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
