Dubai – Two Brazilian building sector companies, concrete slab manufacturer Engeprot and architecture firm Edo Rocha, have opened offices in Dubai and already have projects underway in the United Arab Emirates. The companies’ directors presented their business cases this Sunday to more than 100 Brazilians in the construction seminar organized by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.
The general manager of Engeprot, Omar Khaled Hamaoui, opened his office in the emirate in 2004 and has already concluded more than 30 projects in the country. The works carried out include residential and commercial buildings, shoppings centers, schools, universities, hospitals and a garage for 2,800 vehicles, part of the Dubai Metro. According to Hamaoui, the choice of entering the Arab market was due to the market potential and to his nearness with Arab culture, as he is a son to Lebanese parents.
“The support of the Arab Brazilian Chamber to our participation in the Big 5 was the starting point for us to break into the market,” he claimed, referring to the Big 5 Show, a construction industry trade fair that has counted on Brazilian presence for several years now.
Engeprot is a company that specializes in prestressed concrete, which is used for reinforcing concrete slabs. The raw material used in the works is partly imported from Brazil and from other Arab countries. In its office in Dubai, the company employs 15 people, two of whom are Brazilians.
According to Hamaoui, the company plans on expanding its operations to other Arab countries. Saudi Arabia and Libya are next. Engeprot is already implementing its budget and opening an office in Saudi Arabia. In Libya, the company has ongoing projects for five works, which include commercial, residential and university buildings.
According to the director, persistence is crucial in the Arab market, and even more so amidst the current economic instability. Engeprot is based in Curitiba, the capital of the state of Paraná, and operates in the state of São Paulo and in southern Brazil.
Company Edo Rocha, in turn, opened an office in Dubai in 2008 and has already carried out roughly 10 studies and projects for the Emirates, including a shopping mall, residential and commercial buildings, a footbridge, among others. According to the company director, Edo Rocha, the Brazilian projects in the Emirates pave the way for the entry of products from Brazil in the Arab market.
Rocha, who is the vice president of the Brazilian Association of Architecture Firms (Asbea), is part of a group of 30 architecture firms currently on a mission to the Middle East; According to him, the organization is investing in promotion of architecture services in the Middle East, in partnership with the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex). This is the Asbea’s first mission to the Arab world in partnership with the Apex.
Dubai Chamber
The construction seminar, which was held at the head offices of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was opened by the Arab Brazilian Chamber secretary general, Michel Alaby, followed by the director of the Dubai Chamber, Hassan Al Hashemi. In his presentation, Hashemi spoke of Dubai’s main economic activities, which are trade, tourism and financial services.
According to Hashemi, the Dubai Chamber issued 624,000 certificates of origin last year, as against 231,000 in 2007. In the first half of this year, 296,900 certificates have been issued already. The forecast is that the number of certificates this year should be similar to last year’s. All of the exporting and re-exporting companies operating in Dubai are required to certify their products.
Another lecturer was the assistant sales manager for the Americas and Africa of the Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza), Ahmed Al Haidan. According to him, more than 6,000 companies from 120 different countries are registered in the free zone. “We want to bring more Brazilian companies into the Jafza,” said the manager, who stated that so far, 16 Brazilian companies are registered, among them bus body manufacturer Marcopolo.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
