Isaura Daniel*
São Paulo – Brazil is going to show the potential of its construction industry starting today (16) in the Middle East. Six companies and one Brazilian sector association are going to participate in the Big 5 Show, the largest civil construction fair in the region, to take place in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, between today and Sunday (20). The companies are going to participate in the space organized by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce together with the Brazilian Export Promotion Agency (Apex).
"We had great demand by companies. We could not even answer all of the requests," stated the president of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Antonio Sarkis Jr. The interest of Brazilian industries, according to Sarkis, is due to the moment of expansion that civil construction is undergoing in the Arab world. "Investment in the real estate sector, in hotels and houses in the region, is very large and companies know that," she said.
In the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait, apart from Iraq and Iran, there are 1,400 construction projects in progress, according to an article published by Emirates News Agency. They total investment of US$ 700 billion.
According to the secretary general of the Arab Brazilian Chamber, Michel Alaby, the number of visitors and business deals closed at the Big 5 Show normally exceed expectations. Alaby believes that there is potential for deals to be closed at the fair itself. "In other editions of the fair, deals were always closed during the event," he recalled. For next year, according to Sarkis, the Chamber and the Apex have already asked the organizers of the Big 5 Show for a stand with an area of at least 300 square metres.
The companies that are going to participate in the Brazilian stand in this edition are Soprano, a maker of hardware and hydraulic equipment, Braminas, of granite blocks and plates, Antigua, of enamelled ceramic tiles, GA Pedras, of quartz and slate, Esul, which makes doors and windows and Docol, of metal fittings. The Brazilian Association for Dimension Stones Industry (Abirochas) will also be present at the fair.
Some of the companies already export to the Arab market. Braminas, for example, sells 40% of its Red Bragança Granite, a kind of granite found in the city of Bragança Paulista, in the interior of the southeastern Brazilian state of São Paulo, to Palestine. GA Pedras exports to the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. Docol wants to make of the Big 5 a gateway into the Arab market. The company intends to show its taps that close automatically at the fair. The company is the leader in this sector on the Brazilian market.
Antigua is going to take to the fair its hand-painted tiles produced in the city of Araras, also in the interior of São Paulo. The company wants to find a distributor in the region. Soprano is participating in the fair with the intention of establishing long-term partnerships in the Arab world. The company has been exporting for ten years and already participates in the Mexican, Argentine, Chilean and South African markets. Abirochas is going to participate in the fair for the third time, and is going to present the potential of Brazilian stones, mainly Granites, which are well accepted in the region.
The Brazilian space will cover an area of 85 square metres. Each company, however, will have a stand in the space, for exhibition of products and to make contact with customers. Last year, the Big 5 Show received around 34,000 visitors. For this year the forecast is that there will be over 2,000 exhibitors from 50 countries.
Last Monday (14) the Brazilian companies that are in Dubai were scheduled to visit Salah Al-Din, the main construction material store in the city. On the same day, the group was also scheduled to visit Ace Hardware, the largest civil construction material retailer in Dubai. The objective was to learn a little about local distribution channels, to check prices, the quality of the products sold and competition.
*Translated by Mark Ament
