São Paulo – In three days, ten Brazilian companies, makers of dentistry products and equipment, aligned US$ 2.2 million in exports for the coming 12 months at the International Dental Conference & Arab Dental Exhibition (AEEDC), promoted in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, last week. The Brazil pavilion was organised by the Brazilian Association of the Industry of Medical, Dental, Hospital and Laboratory Articles and Equipment (ABIMO) and the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil).
This was the third Brazilian participation at the fair, which takes place once a year. According to the marketing manager at Abimo, Meire Raquel Jorge, this year the AEEDC took place close to the IDS, in Germany, which is one of the main fairs in the sector. "We were not even going to participate, but we decided it was important to maintain the Brazilian presence," stated Meire. "We therefore managed to take just 10 companies, against 18 last year, but even so the result was very important," she added.
The Brazilian pavilion received 346 visitors and, according to the manager, the contacts were of very good quality. The organisations presented their products to importers of 37 nationalities, being 40% from Arab countries, like Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and the Emirates. The ABIMO target for next year is to double the number of Brazilian exhibitors at AEEDC and also to increase their presence at the Arab Health, a fair in the medical and hospital equipment and product sector that takes place in Dubai, and in which the organisation already participates. "We already have a waiting list of companies that want to participate," said Meire.
According to her, the Arab market is so important to Abimo that the organisation is studying the possibility of participating in other fairs in the sector in the Emirates. Despite the international crisis, Meire believes that there is space for Brazilian companies to expand their business in the Arab market.
The deputy governor of Dubai and minister of Finance of the Emirates, Hamdam bin Rashid Al Maktoum, said, at the opening of the AEEDC, that the sector in the country should not be affected by the crisis and guaranteed that the projects in the area of health should not be reduced. In the first day of the event, he visited the Brazilian pavilion and congratulated the organisation.
US$ 300 million
The fair, which received 20,000 visitors from 113 countries, generated business of around US$ 300 million. A total of 700 exhibitors from 65 countries were present. The next edition should take place from March 9th to 11th, 2010.
*Translated by Mark Ament
