Marina Sarruf*
São Paulo – Representatives of 10 companies and sectorial organizations are going to participate in a trade delegation promoted by the state of Santa Catarina to the Arabian Gulf, to take place between October 26 and November 06. The trip will be organized by the Federation of Industries of the State of Santa Catarina (Fiesc) and by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce.
With the objective of learning about the construction market and seeking new business in the region, the two organizations are going to take the businessmen to Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. "I am curious about visiting the Arab countries. We are going to see what can be exchanged in terms of information and what we can improve in the sector," stated the director of construction company Procave, Nivaldo Pinheiro.
Procave, which has been in the civil construction market for 27 years, only operates in the high-end segment, in the coastal city of Balneário Camboriú. The company has already delivered 21 constructions, totalling over 200,000 square metres of built area. "Our objective is to learn about the technology used in the constructions in these two countries," stated Pinheiro. According to him, the region is very well known for its constructions.
The president of Stone Control, Celso Diamante, in turn, wants to establish partnerships in the Arab countries. "We want to strengthen our position on the market and find distributors," he said. The company trades and produces material like marble, granite and ceramics and already exports to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. "Brazilian stones are very well accepted all around the world," he said.
According to Diamante, the Arab countries have significant experience in great projects in luxury hostelling and housing. "Our idea is to have a warehouse in the region," he said. "We do not want to make one deal. We want to establish lasting, long-term relations," he finished off.
Stone Control, from Florianópolis, the capital of Santa Catarina, has a monthly production capacity of 100,000 square metres of marble and granite and over 25,000 square metres of high-resistance ceramics. According to Diamante, the company exports on average 6,000 tonnes of finished stone (ready for installation) per year. "I already see the results of this delegation as positive," he said.
Another company that is participating is Madepar, a maker of wooden doors, based in the city of Lages, in Santa Catarina. The company target is to double exports to the Arab world. Currently, the organization ships approximately 5,000 doors to Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia per year.
Apart from these organization, construction company Andraus, Termotécnica, a maker of industrial packages, Ingelore Werner Eipper, in landscaping, Metalúrgica Duque, a maker of parts for bicycles, shelves and refrigerators, Viplan, a developer of constructions, as well as Fiesc and the Arab Chamber. The delegation will be headed by Fiesc president Alcantaro Corrêa.
Schedule
Business meetings, and visits to companies, airports, shopping centres, distribution centres and great constructions are scheduled. In Kuwait, the businessmen are going to visit one of the main monuments in the country, Kuwait Towers, two towers, one of which is 82 metres tall, and Marina Hotel, one of the most luxurious hotels in the region.
In Dubai, in turn, the businessmen are going to spend a day at the Big 5 Show, the greatest construction material fair in the Arab countries. They are also going to Salahuddin street, where there are only construction material stores, as well as the distribution centres of products made from Malaysia and China as well as the Ace Hardware, shop, the largest construction material distributor in the Emirates.
Still in Dubai, the businessmen are going to visit Dubai Properties, which is responsible for the construction of neighbourhoods Jumeirah Beach Residence and Business Bay, and are also going to visit shopping centres Ibn Batuta and Emirates Mall. Last of all, in Qatar, the schedule will include a visit to the airport, to the Brazilian embassy in the country as well as business meetings.
*Translated by Mark Ament
