São Paulo – Francal, one of the most traditional footwear fairs in Brazil, expects to welcome Arab importers in its next edition, which is scheduled to take place from June 26 to 29 in the city of São Paulo. The organization of the fair is sending invitations to around 600 buyers in the region, in a joint effort with the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce.
“We established a partnership with the Arab Chamber so it could help us prospect the most active buyers in these 22 Arab countries”, said Fancal’s president, Abdala Jamil Abdala. The initiative is part of the fair’s strategy to attract importers from different regions of the world. In all, three thousand international buyers will be invited and the first 300 to confirm attendance will have their lodging expenses paid for by the fair.
The organization is inviting importers from Latin America, Europe, United States and the Arab world. But Abdala emphasizes the potential of the latter. According to him, Brazilian footwear companies are reporting the growing interest of Arabs to the Brazilian products when they attend fairs here or abroad. “They have been visiting the Brazilian stands and are closing deals”, said Abdala.
Francal’s president points out that 400 million people live in the 22 Arab countries and that most parts of the region aren’t footwear producers. “They import USD 5 billion in footwear”, he says, mentioning the volume per year. According to Abdala, Brazil has the capacity to sell more footwear to the Arab countries. He points out that some of the richest nations in the region, such as the UAE, have import companies that distribute to all Arab countries and Africa.
Abdala underscores the potential of the sector as exporter. “The Brazilian footwear industry has the export DNA, the sector has been an exporter for more than 40 years”, he says. He adds that the industry at one time, around 15 years ago, exported USD 1.97 billion per year, and that with the dollar depreciation in the last 14 years, the cost of the Brazilian footwear increased a lot. In 2015, Brazil exported 1.06 billion in footwear, according to the Brazilian Association of Footwear Industries (Abicalçados).
Currently, with the dollar again appreciated, the industry gained international competitiveness, according to Abdala. With this in mind, Francal decided to do what it thinks is its responsibility in the process and is inviting importers. The fair’s president says that retail is suffering a lot and that the footwear industry, that had been focused on the domestic market, currently falling, needs to “keep the machines rolling”. The fair’s effort should help footwear industries to find demand abroad and continue to create jobs in Brazil.
Abdala says that Francal welcomes, typically, the 1,200 importers and that the fair’s action this year should increase this number. The invitations to international buyers started to be sent 15 days ago. In the case of Arabs, in addition to the invitations sent by Francal, the Arab Chamber is reinforcing the invitation, according to the Chamber’s Market Intelligence coordinator, João Paulo Paixão.
Abicalçados will also bring importers to Francal through a partnership with the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil) for business matchmaking with Brazilian companies. The action, the VIP Buyer Project, is part of the Brazilian Footwear, an exports promotion program for the sector. The invitations made by the project also cover other costs of the importers besides lodging, such as airline tickets. According to information by the press office of Abicalçados, the buyers are yet to be selected.
The guests of Francal’s organization will have a free schedule to visit the stands that interest them the most. They will be encouraged, however, to know a part of the fair occupied by small and medium-size Brazilian companies that are interested to sell to the global market.
Francal will present the Spring/Summer collection of the Brazilian companies. The fair will be held at Parque Anhembi. In the 2015 edition, the exhibition welcomed more than 43,000 visitors from Brazil and 64 countries. In all, two thousand brands exhibited their products.
Francal 2016
From June 26 to 29, 10 am to 8 pm (On June 29, 10 am to 5 pm)
Parque Anhembi, São Paulo
Information: (11) 2226-3100 / www.feirafrancal.com.br
Access: free and restricted to professional of the sector (Children under 14 years old are not admitted in the exhibition)
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
