São Paulo – Arabs participating in a Buyer Project of the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex) this week in São Paulo appreciated the building materials made in the country. They mentioned the design, which is in line with global trends, the quality and the trustworthiness. However, they complained about the prices and claimed that companies show little interest in conquering the foreign market.
“The Brazilian construction industry is experiencing strong growth and consumption. We have sensed that the companies are highly focused in catering to domestic clients,” said the CEO of Archisys, a Jordanian construction projects company, Jamal Naber.
The director of CEG-Qatar, Mohamed Abdulmaziz, stated that Brazilian products boast similar quality to their German, Italian and Spanish counterparts. Still, he says, they would be successful if their pricing was similar to those of Chinese and Indian products.
At a meeting with the group this Friday (9th) in his São Paulo office, the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce , Salim Taufic Schahin, said Brazilian products are more expensive because production costs are high. This, he said, can be solved through investment.
“The enterprises want to profit and they invest in order to earn it here. As they grow and become competitive, they try and find new markets. The industry is still hindered by taxes, exchange rates and complex logistics. Besides, we are far from the Arab world, there is a culture gap, there is the language barrier. This is why this partnership between the Apex and the Arab Brazilian Chamber is helpful when it comes to finding partners and boosting bilateral trade,” said Schahin. The Buyer Project was promoted with the support from the Arab Brazilian Chamber.
Schahin stressed that Brazil’s economy is at its best right now and the country could benefit from finding Arab partners. He said Brazil needs engineers, information technology technicians, and partners for infrastructure and oil industry works scheduled for the coming years.
This Friday, in addition to meeting with the Arab Brazilian Chamber president, the visitors went to the building site of Corinthians’ stadium, which will host the opening match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and is nicknamed ‘Itaquerão’ because it is located in the Itaquera neighbourhood of São Paulo.
“This visit will help us become acquainted with the methodology you are using in this World Cup work,” said the CEO of the Oman Society of Contractors, Salim Talib Al Sheedi.
Antonio Gavioli, the contract manager with Odebrecht Infrastructure, the company in charge of the stadium’s construction, claimed that receiving Arab visitors may help the company find new partners in the region. Qatar is hosting the 2022 World Cup. “We may consider establishing a joint venture with a local company to build one of the stadiums,” he said.
In addition to the opening match, five other matches will be played at the Itaquerão, among them one semi-final. Afterwards, the stadium will be turned in to the Corinthians football club. The cost of the work is estimated at 820 million reals (US$ 621 million), of which 400 million reals (US$ 303 million) were financed by the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) and the other 420 million reals (US$ 318 million) will originate from fiscal incentives granted by the São Paulo City Hall. Corinthians will pay for the stadium once it becomes its own.
The arena will have capacity for 48,000 people. To meet the requirements of the International Football Federation (Fifa), another 20,000 provisional seats will be built for the World Cup matches. During the tournament, 68,000 seats will be available for each match. The stadium will count on a parking lot with 929 covered slots and 1,620 uncovered ones. Approximately 30% of construction has been completed. The stadium will boast 59 shops, an auditorium and four restaurants.
“Here in Brazil the fans usually arrive at the stadium 30 minutes before the match and leave five minutes after it ends. This stadium has a new concept to it, which is for fans to arrive around 3 hours early, eat lunch and walk around, and then leave only one hour after the game is over,” said Gavioli.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
