São Paulo – This Friday (26th), the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brazil) approved an internationalization project for the Brazilian dairy industry. The organization will provide R$ 2 million for the development of promotional actions for milk and its products abroad. Of the eight target countries, five are Arab: Algeria, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Iraq. According to the Organization of Brazilian Cooperatives (OCB), which will manage the program, project implementation will start in November.
Actions will include participation of companies in sector fairs, development of a brand, project promotion via trips of foreign journalists, researchers and businessmen, and a buyer project. On the other hand, the plan approved by the Apex-Brazil requires participating companies to act in return, which can be done in different ways. For instance, a company which sends personnel to fairs in other countries will pay for the trip.
According to the OCB Sectors and Markets analyst, Gustavo Beduschi, cooperatives account for a significant share of Brazilian dairy output, but the country is not a major exporter at this time. It was so up until 2008, when the industry exported the equivalent of US$ 500 million.
In 2009, however, the economic crisis caused countries which were formerly leading clients of Brazil’s, such as the United States and European Union nations, to adopt more protectionist stances. With regard to the Arab countries, exports declined as a result of competition, according to Beduschi. Still, he said, Brazil never stopped selling dairy products to the region.
Even though eight countries have been chosen as targets, other nations can be included. “In Germany, for example, they have the Anuga fair, which is very large. Thus, participating can be one of the actions, although Germany is not a target country,” said Beduschi.
Aside from the five Arab countries, China, Angola and Venezuela are part of the project. According to Beduschi, these countries have been named as priorities by the 11 companies involved in strategic planning and Apex-Brazil. The Ministry of Agrarian Development will be another partner in the program, and will work in tandem with dairy producers.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
