São Paulo – Egypt is a great market for Brazilian food and offers investment opportunities. This statement was made on Wednesday (24) by the secretary general at the Confederation of Egyptian European Business Associations (CEEBA), Allaa Ezz, who made a presentation about the Egyptian market to members of the delegation promoted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply to North Africa and the Middle East.
"He pointed out the opportunities not only for cooperation and production of food in Egypt but also for export of Brazilian food to the country and reexport to the region," said Flávia Furtado, representative of the Cooperative Department at the Ministry. The delegation includes technicians from the ministry and representatives of Brazilian companies and cooperatives in the sectors of beef, pork and poultry, rice and soy.
According to Flávia, there is great demand in the Arab country for food like rice and beef. "He (Allaa Ezz) pointed that there is growing demand for food in Egypt. While the European Union presented negative growth during the global crisis, Egypt presented growth indices of over 4%," said Flávia, in a telephone interview to ANBA.
After the talk, the group participated in a technical visit to a Carrefour supermarket, where they met the unit’s marketing vice president, Christopher Orcet. "We were informed that Carrefour operates in the Arab countries through a franchise system, headquartered in Dubai, and that Brazilian exports to the group must be through local distributors," said Flávia.
According to the Ministry, during the visit to the shop, participants could learn more about presentation (packaging), quality and price of products for consumers. The day ended with a visit to a Metro supermarket, which belongs to Dutch wholesalers Makro.
The Market Development analysts at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Fábio Ottaiano, also accompanies the group. The mission ends on December 4th. Apart from Egypt, the group should travel to Algeria and the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, in the United Arab Emirates. The trip is progression of the Program for Insertion of Brazilian Cooperatives in Strategic Markets, developed by the Ministry of Agriculture for organisations that operate in agribusiness. The objective is to prepare cooperatives for export.
*Translated by Mark Ament
