Geovana Pagel
São Paulo – "The first day of the fair was spectacular. I have never seen so many visitors at the opening. Brazilian businessmen have already made around 500 new contacts and some have already closed deals," commemorated Michel Alaby, secretary general of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (CCAB), which is organizing the Brazilian pavilion at Index, the largest furniture and decorations fair in the Middle East, which started yesterday (22) in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.
According to Alaby, mattress producer Americanflex, from the city of Ribeirão Preto (in the interior of the southeastern state of São Paulo), has already closed an order for eight containers, and furniture and decorations producer Antiqua, also from São Paulo, sold all the furniture and objects it is exhibiting at the fair.
According to Alaby, Index, which is occupying the entire Dubai World Trade Center, the largest commercial centre in the United Arab Emirates, was officially opened by Dubai prince Mohammed Al Maktoum. "He visited the Brazilian pavilion rapidly, but did not have time to see everything. Who spent the whole day with us was the Brazilian ambassador in the Emirates, Flávio Sapha," he pointed out.
The exhibitors at the 14th edition of Index include around 1,200 companies from 50 different origins, as well as 26 country stands like the Brazilian. On the first day, explained Alaby, the largest number of visitors was from countries like India, Qatar, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Mauritania, and the United Arab Emirates. "From Qatar I spoke to a large businessman who is setting up a 100 house condominium in the city of Doha and has great interest in Brazilian furniture. He said he was going to return to the pavilion by the end of the fair," stated the secretary.
Although Index is specifically a furniture and decoration fair, many businessmen from other sectors are walking around the stand after opportunities. That was the case with the president of Al Khallani Trading Company, Ziad Amr, who is interested in importing Brazilian foods like cattle beef, chicken, soy, and sugar. "He wants to open new markets and considers Brazil a potential partner," said Alaby.
The fair will go on up to Sunday. Organization of the Brazilian pavilion also has the support of the Brazilian Export Promotion Agency (Apex).
Three main areas
As occurred in the previous editions, Index is divided in three main areas. One of them is Arab Shop Index, which includes commercial furniture, complete projects for shops, merchandising, design, and theme environments. It also includes Textiles Index, with fabrics in general, upholstery, fabrics for furniture, beds, tables, and bath, and Furniture Production Index, with machinery for production of furniture and decorations, as well as semi-finished products.
Brazilian industry
The Brazilian furniture industry is made up of over 16,000 micro, small, and medium companies that generate over 195,000 jobs.
These companies are mainly located in the centre-south region of the country, and are in furniture poles in some states, as is the case with Bento Gonçalves, in Rio Grande do Sul state, São Bento do Sul, in Santa Catarina state, Arapongas, in Paraná state, the three southernmost Brazilian states; Mirassol, Votuporanga and São Paulo, in São Paulo state; Ubá, in Minas Gerais state, and Linhares, in Espírito Santo state, the latter three in the southeast of the country.
According to the Brazilian Furniture Industry Association (Abimóvel), in 2003 the sector sold US$ 661.56 million on the foreign market, 25% more than in 2002. This year the target is to reach US$ 860 million, a 30% growth.
