Geovana Pagel*
São Paulo – The emirate of Dubai will be included in the calendar of fairs promoted by Organics Brasil, aimed at expanding Brazilian exports of organic products. "Dubai is considered strategic for entry into the Arab market. For this reason, the project is already planning the creation of a local fair specifically turned to the organic product sector in 2007 or 2008," stated project manager Ming Chao Liu, on Friday (15), during the release of BioFach Latin America at the offices of the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (Fiesp). BioFach LA will take place between October 25 and 27, in São Paulo.
Prospecting new markets and participating in business roundtables and international fairs are part of the actions promoted by Organics Brasil, established in 2004 by the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex), the Federation of Industries of the State of Paraná and the Paraná Institute of Development (IPD), which is the organization managing the project.
Currently, one of the objectives is to export the "Brazil Brand" and the plan of visiting Dubai is inserted in this context. The idea, therefore, is to organize a fair turned exclusively to Brazilian organic products. "We want to add the Brazil Brand to the product to be sold abroad," stated Chao Liu.
According to him, the project has been attracting the attention of the international media. The Organic & Wellness paper, a publication that is distributed at the main international fairs, is going to publish an article exclusively about Brazil. "The Organic Route section will map the tourist points and organic restaurants in the country," stated the manager.
He was one of the speakers at seminar "Organics and sustainability: two themes for the 21st century", whose objective was the launching of BioFach LA, the organic product sector fair that is going to take place in the southeastern Brazilian capital of São Paulo for the first time. During the meeting, specialists discussed agribusiness in Brazil and the organic product sector, sustainability and aspects related to the insertion of Brazilian organic products in the international market.
The seminar also included Roberto Gianetti da Fonseca, the director of the International Relations Department and Foreign Trade Department at the Fiesp, Fabio Ramos, director of Agrosuisse, Maria Beatriz Bley Martins Costa, director at Planeta Orgânico and co-organizer of the BioFach, Edmund Klotz, president of the Brazilian Food Processors Association (Abia), Ingo Plöger, president of IP Entrepreneurial and Institutional Development, which is organizing the I Forum of Leaders in Sustainability, to take place at ExpoSustentat 2006, to be organized in the sidelines of BioFach.
Business meetings
BioFach LA and ExpoSustentat bring together two fairs and two conferences. Importers from 12 countries are expected. The forecast of the organizers is that 4,000 people should visit the fair daily to learn about the products made by the over 300 exhibitors.
There will also be business roundtables with foreign buyers and events turned to the increase of internal consumption of organic products, like gastronomy workshops with chefs Flavia Quaresma and Carla Pernambuco.
Costmetics, powdered chocolate and various other novelties in organic processes, as well as raw products, like fish and shrimp should be included in the greatest exhibition of certified organic products in Latin America.
According to Maria Beatriz Bley Martins Costa, a director at Planeta Orgânico, organic products "improve agricultural management, as they do not attack the soil with pesticides, they also generate jobs, protect the quality of water and produce more tasty food, among other advantages."
According to her, studies promoted by Planeta Orgânico in partnership with the BioFach LA, show that the area of Brazilian land on which organic products are grown should rise considerably in coming yeas, as should investment turned to the expansion of internal consumption. According to figures supplied by the Ministry of Agriculture, Brazil has 90 million hectares of available land that may be used for agriculture. "This is an enormous potential that may certainly be used for organic products," stated Maria Beatriz.
Service
BioFach and ExpoSustentat
October 25 to 27, 2006
From 09:00 am to 06:00 pm
At Transamérica Expo Center – São Paulo
Sites
www.biofach-americalatina.com.br
www.exposustentat.com.br
Further information
Organics Brasil
Site: www.organicosbrasil.org
*Translated by Mark Ament
