São Paulo – The Association for Real Estate and Tourism Development of Brazil (Adit) is going to promote the Adit Invest conference in Fortaleza, Ceará, from May 10th to 12th, to bring together Brazilian companies in the sector and international investors.
"The Adit’s main activities are attraction of international investment, but we are also seeking to establish mechanisms for sector discussions, to take people and companies to discuss [market] tendencies," said to ANBA the organisation’s president, Luiz Henrique Lessa.
Apart from the debates, there will be business roundtables, with the presentation of projects in Brazil for potential foreign investors. Adit arose as an association turned mainly to promotion of tourist enterprises in the Northeast, so projects in the region will still play an important part in the event this year.
Lessa pointed out, however, that projects in other areas will also be presented, like the shopping centre, housing and logistics sectors. "They are projects with distinctive talents. It is not worth offering just what you want to sell, but also what the market is seeking," he said.
In this respect, the executive recalled that, with the economic growth of Brazil, the interest of investors in projects turned to the middle classes is also on the rise, especially in the areas of housing and consumption.
Traditionally, real estate enterprises in the Northeast attracted European investors, especially from Portugal and Spain. Lessa pointed out that, despite the economies of these countries living a bear, Portuguese and Spanish groups are still interested in Brazil and may invest. "There are still groups with capacity for investment, but which do not see opportunities in their own countries," he said.
He added, however, that Brazil is attracting greater and greater interest of investors from several parts of the world. As examples, he mentioned Equity International, the investment company that belongs to North American magnate Sam Zell, to be represented at the event by CEO and co-founder Gary Garrabrant.
Another example is Inovalis, a real estate management fund that is headquartered in France, with operations and funds in institutions in the Gulf, like Qatar and Kuwait.
Last year, according to Lessa, the event generated business expectations of an estimated 1.8 billion Brazilian reals (US$ 1.15 billion). For the 2011 exhibition, growth of 30% is considered possible.
*Translated by Mark Ament