São Paulo – Businessmen, executives and representatives of trade organisations participated on Thursday (11) in seminar Target Market: Middle East, promoted in partnership between the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex), in São Paulo. At the event, the main business opportunities in markets like the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar.
Among the sectors with the greatest opportunities for Brazilian companies, those stressed were the food and beverage, home and building, machinery and equipment, fashion and service sectors. Juarez Leal, the New Product Development coordinator at the Apex, pointed out the growth in government purchases in the region. "The government has started acting as an important agent in the question of infrastructure. There is already a movement turned to the World Cup in Qatar, and Brazil must find its space,” he said.
Regarding the sector of food and beverages, Sidney Alves Costa, the manager of the Apex Business Centre in Dubai, recalled that "there is already a positive point of view among the [Arab] population regarding the quality of Brazilian products. Companies must pay attention to halal and organic foods,” he said. “In markets where income is higher, there is demand for premium quality products, though that does not exclude opportunities for mass products,” he added.
The hospitality sector was also pointed out as a generator of good business. “The hotel sector is still growing throughout the region, especially in the Emirates. Although the [2022] World Cup is going to be in Qatar, the planning [of the event] benefits the region as a whole. We must pay attention to tenders,” said Costa.
With regard to the fashion and cosmetics sectors, the Apex manager pointed out that, apart from the Arabs, those interested in selling products to the Middle East must also remember the great foreign populations living in the region. "The product profile must consider not just the local population, but also the expatriates, which, in the Emirates, for example, are more than 80% of the population.”
Michel Alaby, CEO at the Arab Brazilian Chamber, spoke about particularities in negotiations with the Arabs, emphasizing the importance of halal certification not just for meats, but also for other products, like sweets and creams. "In meat, halal is a sanitary and religious precept. In other products, it is a market niche and Brazil is not making good use of this niche,” he said. Regarding matters that can or cannot be included in conversations with the Arabs, the executive pointed out that topics to be avoided include politics and religion, whereas themes like football and the Arab influence in Brazil tend to bring the Arabs closer to Brazilians.
The event also brought two cases of companies that successfully entered the Middle East, construction company Queiroz Galvão and trading company Braseco, a German company that has a branch in Brazil, specialized in exporting building material. Queiroz Galvão, which entered the Arab market through Libya, in 2007, now already has two offices in the Emirates and one in Qatar, inaugurated in May this year. Braseco started its operations through Egypt and, currently, also sells to Jordan, the Emirates, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Among the businessmen and executives participating in the event was Marcelle Fonseca, the export supervisor at Elgin, a maker of commercial cooling equipment. She explains that the company already exports to the whole of South America, as well as to countries in Central America and to the United States. Now, the interest is entry in the Arab market. “It is a very promising market and, as they are currently focussed on building, in the hotel sector we see need for district cooling, our area of operation.” According to Marcelle, there are already negotiations with Algeria, but deals have not yet been closed with that country.
*Translated by Mark Ament
