The Brazilian diplomatic representations abroad are going to have a specialized advisor for agricultural matters. This should grant greater agility to the processes in the area and greater technical support to diplomats during their negotiations. Initially, eight embassies will have attaches.
Author: Mark Ament
Christian Barbosa, the export manager at Itatiaia, a maker of furniture, met yesterday with a representative of a large company from the Arab country at the Arab Brazilian Chamber stand at Khartoum International Fair. Up to the end of the event, Barbosa should meet with the director at the Arab company.
A group of artisans from the city of Samambaia, in the Federal District of Brazil, where the country capital is located, uses leaves from the savannah, sisal and crochet to make handbags, panels, curtains, stoles, jerseys and skirts. The articles are successful in Brazil and in countries like the United States, Italy, France, Spain and New Zealand.
Yesterday, on the first day of Khartoum International Fair, Sudanese, Saudi and Egyptian businessmen showed interest in importing Brazilian coffee, paper, plastic and soy oil. The Arab Brazilian Chamber stand was visited by the vice president of Sudan, Ali Osman Taha.
In the market for three years, stylist Renata Mahaz, from the northeastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco, has already won the markets in São Paulo (SE), Brasília (MW), Manus (N) and Aracaju (NE) with her dresses. Now, her target is to take her creations to the foreign market. The stylist, who visited the Arab Brazilian Chamber offices yesterday, will have a showroom in São Paulo until Friday.
Brazil imported the equivalent to US$ 40 million from the region between January and November 2007. Exports of Brazilian textile products to the Arabs rose 47% and reached US$ 31 million. To the president at the Abit, Aguinaldo Diniz, it is time for the sector to maintain a stronger presence in the Middle East.
Itacitrus, an exporter from the city of Itajobi, in the interior of the southeastern Brazilian state of São Paulo, already exports limes to countries in the European Union and Canada. Eyeing the business opportunities the company plans to enter the United Arab Emirates in the near future. In February, the company agent in Europe is going to participate in food sector fair Gulfood, in Dubai.
Each year, travel agencies, tourism operators and transport companies elect the best hotels, beaches, destinations and services in the world. The pyramids of Giza, in Egypt, and Burj Al Arab hotel, in the United Arab Emirates, for example, were respectively awarded by World Travel Awards, the leading attraction and hotel.
The main fair in the food sector in the Middle East, which takes place in Dubai, will include a stand set up by the Arab Brazilian Chamber and the Ministry of Agriculture of Brazil, with 12 companies. Another 23 – in the sectors of cattle beef, chicken and fruit – will have their own spaces or are going to exhibit with sectorial associations.
After the inauguration of a direct flight between Dubai and São Paulo, by Emirates airline, the Arab Brazilian Chamber and the Ministry of Tourism signed an agreement to promote Brazil as a destination for tourists from Arab countries and to attract investment to the sector. This year Brazil is going to participate in fair Arabian Travel Market and professionals in the field in the Middle East and North Africa should come to the country.
Last year, Brazil exported 2,253 different products to the Arab world, growth of 7.3% over 2006. The number of items traded by the Arabs reached 783, growth of almost 20%.
The director general at the National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuel Agency (ANP) of Brazil, Haroldo Lima, said that the intention is to cause the opening of the sector not to be restricted to large corporations, be they Brazilian or foreign. The ANP has already promoted two rounds of tenders for the exploration of marginal fields and a third should take place this year.
Geometric forms, live colours and symmetry in the designs. These are the similarities of the canvases and panels painted by artist Susana Barros using the millenary Egyptian and Islamic art. The fascination for Arab culture took the artist to Egypt to study and understand this art better. Nowadays she aims at taking her work outside the country.
To the director at Couromoda, the International Shoes, Sportsgoods and Leathergoods Fair, Jeferson Santos, the sector needs to work with medium and high end products to compete on the foreign market and cope with the appreciation of the Brazilian real against the dollar. One of the markets with purchase potential is the Arab.
