Alexandre Rocha, special envoy*
alexandre.rocha@anba.com.br
Tunis – The visit to Tunisia, which ended on Saturday (02), was considered promising by most of the businessmen who are participating in the mission to North Africa, organized by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex). More than export possibilities, they were also interested do in investment opportunities. The country offers a series of incentives to industries that decide to establish themselves here.
“I was interested in Enfidha Industrial District and am going to contact our associates to see whether it is worth it, as the country is very close to Europe and it is easy to offer products on that market,” stated Paulo Passos of the Brazilian Fruit Institute (Ibraf). “We could bring the mashed fruit from Brazil and pack it here; I believe that we could have a competitive price even for the European Union,” he added.
Located in the south of Tunis, between the cities of Hammamet and Sousse, the district offers land and infrastructure for the installation of factories. Apart from that, Tunisia has an industrial investment attraction policy that includes tax exemption for 10 years, the financing of part of the business and the possibility of making use of the free trade agreements that the country has with the European Union (EU) and with other countries in Africa. For export to the EU free of fees, for example, 40% of the product composition must be Tunisian.
In the same line, Edmilson Marcondes dos Santos, of Usmatic, a maker of water clocks and irrigation equipment, stated that the cost for construction of a plant on the site is very competitive. According to him, it is 30 euros per square metre of land and 400 euros per square metre of built area. “The business roundtables were very good, and I made contact with two companies interested in sending proposals for partnerships for the construction of a factory,” he said. He wants to have a water clock assembly line in the country and to transfer technology for an irrigation equipment production plant.
The theme also attracted the attention of Andréa de Freitas Melo, of the Movexport consortium, from the city of Ubá, in the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. “I made contact with some people interested in representation and there was an idea of developing a project for furniture assembly here,” she said. “I found the Enfidha Industrial District project very interesting; it would be a frontier for furniture export. We would use the local labour,” she added.
The executives participated in two business roundtables in Tunisia, and also visited Enfidha Industrial District. Another businessperson who showed interest in having local operations was Damaris Ávila da Costa, of Braseco. “There are opportunities for sale of building material for hotel and condo projects, as well as for agricultural machinery and equipment and auto parts. We have many options, I think that I am going to do business very fast,” she said.
“The state of relations between Brazil and Tunisia has already advanced to a new level. Many activities have already been forwarded and we have started working with greater added value,” stated the marketing vice president at the Arab Brazilian Chamber, Rubens Hannun, who is heading the delegation, which is currently in Egypt. Brazil and Tunisia already have a bilateral mixed committee, coordinated by the Foreign Ministries of both countries, a series of signed cooperation agreements, a bilateral business council, as well as growing trade.
To Hannun, it is now time to seek partnerships and to strengthen the image of each country in the other. “We already have a basis established for that,” he stated. One of the proposals he presented in Tunis was the opening of a Tunisian trade office in Brazil and a Brazilian office in Tunisia.
Sales
Daniel Schnorr, of Link Worldwide, which represents eight industries of components for shoes and accessories, said he closed a US$ 5,000 test order with a belt factory. “I also made contact with the second largest tannery in Tunisia and they want to import chemical products and wet blue leather,” he said. In his evaluation, the contacts made in the country may generate sales of US$ 150,000, or three containers a year.
Eduardo Moraes, from Latinex, a company that specializes in foods and drinks, stated that the visit to Tunisia exceeded his expectations. “The market is small but there are great business possibilities, mainly for canned products, biscuits and sweets,” he said. On researching the local retail market, he noticed that the offer of Brazilian products is almost non existent, and that this opening may be filled.
Singular Trading, which also sells food and agricultural products, has perspectives for closing deals in Tunisia in coming weeks. According to Cristiano Vivaldi, one of the company representatives, there are opportunities for the sale of sugar, milk and other agricultural products. In Morocco, the first phase of the trip, he closed a US$ 600,000 contract. “The idea is to multiply the total this year,” he explained.
Márcio Lário, of Nitriflex, a maker of resins and synthetic rubber, stated that he found a possible buyer and distributor of polystyrene resin. “He produces strengthened plastic tubs and is resisting importing from the United States and Europe, seeking another supplier and preferring the Brazilian culture,” he said.
WK, a company that trades wood and building material, made contact with the main Tunisian importer of wood. “He already buys from one of our clients in Europe. We are going to develop the contact, he asked for samples and price quotations to analyse the potential,” stated Igor Kaufeld, a company representative.
Ivini Granado, of Predilecta Alimentos, in turn, stated that few positive contacts were made, but said that the market offers great long-term opportunities. She talked to potential distributors.
*Translated by Mark Ament
