Marina Sarruf*
São Paulo – In the first hours after the opening of the Index, the largest furniture fair in the Middle East, four companies connected to the Brazilian High-End Furniture Manufacturers Association (Abimad) received orders for tables, chairs, sofas and decoration accessories in a volume that totals three containers. The buyers were retailers and consumers in the region of the Arabian Gulf. Index opened yesterday (28), in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is going on up to December 02.
According to the person responsible for the Foreign Relations department at the Abimad, Rafael Molon, who is at the fair, the first sales generated between US$ 150,000 and US$ 200,000. Each container can carry up to 100 sofas or 20 tables and 160 chairs. "The first day was very positive for Abimad companies," he said. The orders were mainly by buyers from the Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain.
The four companies that closed deals are Formanova Móveis, which makes products for dining rooms, home theatres and complements, Antica, which sells furniture, pictures, vases, lampshades and sculptures, Niroflex, a maker of leather upholsteries, and Century, of fabric upholsteries. According to Molon, some of the companies sold half of the products they took to show.
"We are very surprised with the number of contacts we made," said Molon, who received visitors from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait, Sudan, Algeria, Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kazakhstan, which is not an Arab country. "We also spoke to many people interested in setting up showrooms with our furniture in the region," he added. Abimad chose Index to launch a consortium of companies turned to export to the Arab countries.
During the first day at Index Abimad also established a partnership with magazine Gulf Interiors, the main furniture and decoration magazine in the Gulf countries. According to Molon, in coming editions the furniture by Abimad companies will be advertised in the magazine.
Visit by the crown prince
At the opening of the event, Dubai crown prince Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum visited the Brazilian stand, which is organized by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, and spoke to the secretary general at the organization, Michel Alaby.
According to Alaby, Maktoum was very pleased with the participation of 38 Brazilian companies and associations at the fair. "He enquired about the number of Brazilian companies participating, the size of the stand and how many times Brazil had participated," explained Alaby, who took advantage of the opportunity to ask for more space in the 2006 edition. The Arab Brazilian Chamber is participating in the event for the seventh time and has an area of 850 square metres.
Apart from Maktoum, Brazilian businessmen were also visited by the Brazilian ambassador in the United Arab Emirates, Flávio Moreira Sapha. In total, Index counts on 1,500 exhibitors from 46 countries.
*Translated by Mark Ament