São Paulo – Ten Brazilian defence industry companies will attend the International Defence Exhibition and Conference (Idex), due February 17 to 21 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The country’s participation is being organized by the Brazilian Defence and Security Industries Association (Abimde) and the companies will showcase products such as weapons, ammunition, armouring and avionics, among others.
“The Middle East is one of the target markets for Brazil,” says Carlos Afonso Pierantoni Gambôa, the Abimde executive vice president. “Brazil has a great relationship with the countries in the region, so we are not met with the rejection that some first-world countries are. Our products are very well accepted there. That has motivated companies to take part in the fair,” he says.
Of the participating companies, BCA (armouring), CBC (ammunition), Condor (non-lethal technology), Embraer (aircraft), Taurus (weapons) and Mectron (intelligent weapons) have been to past editions of the fair, while Nightlaser (electro-optical military equipment), Avionics (aircraft equipment), Atrasorb (CO2-absorbing pads) and AEQ (explosives and aerospace accessories) are attending Idex for the first time. “There are four new companies; the remainder have plenty of business there,” says Gambôa.
“Embraer has sold plenty aircraft for authority transportation, which falls under the defence category,” says the executive, while mentioning other products for which there is a good demand in the Arab market, such as low-calibre ammunition by CBC and weapons by Taurus.
According to Taurus export supervisor Leonardo Sperry, the company will take weapons such as revolvers, pistols, carbines and shotguns to Idex. “The big bet is pistols, revolvers and especially a new 12 gauge pistol”, he says.
Taurus sells 85% of its output to the foreign market, especially the United States, Asia and Latin America. The company ships 1% to 2% of its exports to the Middle East. Buying countries include Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Emirates, Lebanon and Bahrain.
Sperry says Taurus is “betting high” on its participation in the fair. “We want that region, especially markets such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the Emirates. Our main interest is in prospecting for new business.”
Industry figures
According to Gambôa, in 2011, the Brazilian defence industry had a US$ 4 billion turnover, of which US$ 1.9 billion were exports and the remainder were imports. “In Brazil, the industry still imports much more than it exports,” says the Abimde executive.
Middle East countries account for 20% of exports from Brazil’s defence and security industry. The main target region was Latin America, at 30%.
The Abimde vice president says that regarding Arab countries, the Brazilian defence industry does good business with Qatar, Emirates, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Oman.
According to him, expectations concerning Idex are very positive. “The demand for companies to go to the fair is increasing. We are taking quality products that are second to no foreign product,” he says.
Held every two years, Idex had its last edition in 2011, with 1,060 exhibitors from 52 countries and over 60,000 visitors.
The executive says 2012 figures have not been compiled yet, but says he expects performance to be up 10% in 2013 from 2012.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
