Alexandre Rocha
São Paulo – Fifteen Brazilian companies in the medical, hospital, and dentistry equipment sector will take part for the first time in the Arab Health fair, that will happen between the 18th and 21st of January in 2004 in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.
According to the president of the Association of the Manufacturers of Medical and Dental Products (Abimo), Djalma Luiz Rodrigues, it will be the first time that Brazilian companies from the health area join the event.
“Brazil has excellent options of equipment to offer to the Arab market. We should have gone sooner. But, we have gained experience and our participation will happen at the right moment”, said Rodrigues.
Following information at the official site of the event (www.arabhealthonline.com), the Arab Health is the biggest fair in the sector in the Middle East and should feature one thousand exhibitors from 50 countries.
The executive-director of Abimo, Hely Audrey Maestrello, said that it is estimated over 25 thousand visitors, and that the Brazilian committee will go along with 30 participants.
Last year, the event received more than 19 thousand visitors, 73% from the Gulf region and the rest coming from countries in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and India.
Rodrigues hopes that in a near future, the presence of Brazilian companies in the event in Dubai can have the same participation of Brazilians as in the medical fair in Dusseldorf, in Germany, where 13 Brazilian companies participated in a stand of 210 cubical meters and 30 people in a committee. For this year, at the German event, Brazil will be represented by 32 companies, 107 officials, and a stand of 400 cubical meters.
The event in Dubai, however, will not be the first contact with the Arab specialists in the health care area. Rodrigues said that the Arab executives participated in the Hospitalar fair, that took place in São Paulo in June.
“They had the opportunity to bring information about their companies as well as to learn about ours. It was a wonderful contact that has been strengthened even more”, said Rodrigues.
The president of Abimo also said that in previous years each company developed their own mailing contacts, but now this service will be provided in block of information by the organizers. He said that the closest approach with the Arab clients can enhance the export market of the sector in the Arab region, which is very small.
He believes that the Brazilian health care services is very prospective to grow in the Arab countries because of the “high-tech equipment for considerable price”. Rodrigues mentioned that many of the equipment from Brazil are certified for export to the European Union and that many companies offer training programs so that the Arab clients can have a maintenance service.
Algeria: US$ 15 million
As part of the strategy to conquer the Arab market, the executive Wagner Mazolli took part as official represent of Abimo in a trade mission to Algeria, supervised by Brazilian minister of energy and mines, Dilma Roussef, in early September. He said that the Arab people are “great merchants” and that the price offered by the Brazilian companies can become very attractive for them.
Mazolli believes that the visit in Algeria can result in business of US$ 15 million profit in a period of a year.
“It was a very interesting visit, so we could get to know an unexplored market. Only one Brazilian company of dentistry equipment was present. It is a market taken by the French, but very promising for Brazil”.
According to him, the Brazilian products are easily opened to the Algerian market because there is no barrier to the this kind of equipment in the sector.
“There is a lot of potential in the whole medical area. We have established contact with some companies interested in buying X-ray machines, orthopedic instruments and other types of equipment”, said Mazolli.
Profile
Abimo represents 269 companies in the sector, and last year had revenue of nearly US$ 1,5 billion and exported nearly US$ 171 million in equipment. The deficit in the sector, though, is very high.
In 2002, the country imported more than US$ 918 million in products. The volume of exportation, however, is increasing. Between January and September of this year, the export market generated US$ 140 million in revenue, 17% more than the same period last year.
