The increase in milk, cheese, and butter sales to the Arab countries is helping revert the sector trade deficit. The negative balance has already dropped significantly in the first four months of the year. The Arab nations purchased 3,300 tonnes or US$ 5.8 million in Brazilian dairy products.
Author: Isaura Daniel
Isaura Daniel
A journalist with a degree from Unisinos and experience in economy and finance, she has been responsible for international coverages and amassed eight journalism prizes.
Brazilian factories shipped 24% more clothes, fabric, and thread to the Arab countries in the first four months of 2004 than they had in the same period last year. The percentage was above sector export growth as a whole, which reached 10% up to April.
The company exports one third of the lollipops, sweets, and chewing gum produced at their factory in the city of Erechim, in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul. In the Middle East, the main buyer is Palestine, which has shown itself as a faithful client. The region should answer to 15% of company foreign trade this year.
The company, Brazilian leader in the hairbrush, comb, and broom market, is going to sell its products to the Arab country. Up to now, the only Arab country the factory had sold to was Syria. The target is to diversify export, currently concentrated on the United States. In Brazil, the Condor brand is famous for the toothbrushes it produces.
Brazilian businessmen already use Exporta Fácil, Simple Export a service provided by the Brazilian Postal Service, to sell to the Arabs. In the first four months of the year, 977 orders were delivered to the region by post. With little bureaucracy, the system simplifies small company access to the foreign market.
Brazil took one more step in the direction of the South American-Arab Summit last weekend, during the World Economic Forum meeting in Jordan. During the talks Brazilian Foreign Relations minister Celso Amorim had with Arab leaders who were present, it was clear that the rising trade between both regions would be the main topic of the meeting, scheduled for Brazil in December.
The producer of bus bodies is studying the market in the region for the possible expansion of productive activities. India and Eastern Europe are also being considered. Last year, the company sold one thousand units to Middle Eastern countries, a 26.2% increase when compared to 2002.
The company, based in the northern state of Pará, produces cosmetics and perfume from essences and extracts from the Amazon forest, and will start distributing its products throughout the Arab world in June. Sales were made to three retail chains during a fair in Dubai.
One of the topics to be discussed by minister Celso Amorim in Egypt is the summit between South American and Arab heads of state. He also took an invitation form president Lula to Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak inviting him to participate in the Mercosur summit in December. The North African country is interested in establishing a free trade accord with the South American economic bloc.
Tourism routs are part of the project for revitalization of federal government railways and will be explored by private companies and public organizations. Among them is the Pantanal Train, to transport tourists between Campo Grande and Corumbá (two cities in the midwestern states of Mato Grosso do Sul, the former being the capital). Some are already in operation, such as the Maria Fumaça (a steam engine), in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, and the Royal Railway Train (in Rio de Janeiro
Africa doubled export to Brazil in April, mainly pushed by oil sales by countries such as Nigeria and Algeria. The Arab country increased sales from US$ 171 million in the first quarter of 2003 to US$ 417.9 million in the same period this year – the increase was 144%.
Egypt, Morocco, and Algeria were the countries most responsible for the 60.4% increase in Brazilian export to Africa in the first four months of the year. For the Middle Eastern countries, the increase was 14%, whereas to the United States, for example, there was a 3.3% drop in sales of Brazilian products in the period.
