São Paulo – Companies from Dubai are looking for opportunities in the Brazilian market. A delegation from the emirate attended this Tuesday (20) a business matchmaking session with local companies in the capital São Paulo. The event was organized by the Dubai Exports agency, with the support of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce.
According to Ashraf Mahate, head of export market intelligence at Dubai Exports, there are many companies from Dubai interested in exporting foodstuffs to Brazil. He points out, however, that this is not about basic foodstuffs such as beef or poultry, of which Brazil is a large producer, but specialized products that are not found in the local market.
“We have companies of snacks, Arab delicacies and sweets. We also have a cosmetics industry interested in entering the South America market”, he said. Mahate believes the different features of the emirate’s products can attract Brazilian consumer interest in new experiences.
“We produce specialized, high-cost foodstuffs. We have companies selling items that you don’t find in domestic markets, such as dates, Arab products. People travel, see new things and want to try our products, which are not available at the Brazilian market. We are not competing with Brazilian products. We are here to offer new tastes and new specialized products”, he said.
On Time Group, one of the companies that joined the delegation, is a trading company that operates in the foodstuffs, beverages and healthcare products sectors. “It’s my second time here in Brazil. I think things are improving compared with the first time. More companies are coming [to the matchmaking event] and I’m being able to understand this part of the world better”, said Waleid Bin Abdulkareim, CEO of the group.
He also talked about the possibility of bringing his company here. “Brazil is a very important market to us. We are thinking about opening an office here, in São Paulo, when we start doing business”, he said.
One of the Brazilian companies that talked to Abdulkareim was Cavalcante, from the foodstuff sector. “Our main goal is to export coffee pods and [milk] shake to them”, said Fadley Fattah, the company’s trader. “On Time operates as an export/import company and promised to give us the contacts of two companies that import coffee”, said the executive.
Najia Ou Benyahya is the business development manager of Intercoil, a company that produces high-end and mid-price mattresses in the UAE. “We have three categories of clients: we work with five-star and four-star hotels, we work with distributors that buy our products and resell them, and we have our own stores. We have 25 stores in the [Gulf] region”, she said.
In Brazil, the company is looking to establish partnerships to manufacture its products here. “We are looking for partners in the region that want to produce or import our accessories”, she said. In the Middle East, the company is the supplier to several hotel projects in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Oman.
After visiting Brazil, the delegation will go to Argentina and Paraguay.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
