Marina Sarruf*
marina.sarruf@anba.com.br
São Paulo – The Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce stand at Tripoli International Fair, in Libya, received around 20 Libyan companies interested in importing foods like meats, fruit, soy and coffee, building material, including cement and ceramics, machinery for the plastics sector and auto parts. Both days of the event, which began on Wednesday (3), were only open to businessmen.
According to the Market Development analyst at the Arab Brazilian Chamber, Marcus Vinicius, who is at the fair, the organisation was also sought by representatives of the Investment Council of Libya, who were interested in attracting investment from Brazil to the Arab country. Apart from him, the stand also received members of the Libyan Business Council interested in the beef sector.
The Brazilian stand at the fair, which is multi-sector, covers an area of 54 square metres and is promoting the products and activities of several sectors, like the textile, coffee, beef, chicken, shoe and medical and hospital product sectors. The fair usually brings together 2,000 exhibitors from 30 countries. The executive director at the Association of the Manufacturers of Medical and Dental Products (Abimo), Hely Maestrello, should also be in Libya next week to seek markets for sector products.
In the sidelines of the fair, the foreign trade manager at the Brazilian Beef Industry and Exporters Association (Abiec), Márcio Caparroz, accompanied by the Market Development coordinator at the Chamber, Rodrigo Solano, are having a series of meetings with representatives in the local beef sector. Yesterday, they met with the director at the office of the technical commission at the Secretariat of Agriculture, Animal and Marine Health, Ibrahim Sharef Bem Sassi.
According to Solano, Brazil is the main supplier of chicken to Libya. However, most of the Brazilian product is shipped in the frozen form, which is not considered high quality on the market, being sold for half the price of the fresh product. “Now the idea is to introduce the concept of vacuum packed meats,” he said. Another problem faced by Brazil is logistics. Brazilian meats take around 50 days to get to Libya.
Brazilian exports to Libya last year totalled US$ 238.66 million, which represented growth of 17.35% over 2006. The main products shipped were iron ore, sugar, beef, aircraft, milk, granite, vehicle bodies and wood.
Last year, Brazil imported from the Arab country crude oil and naphtha for the petrochemical industry. Imports totalled US$ 995 million in 2007, against US$ 288 million in the previous year.
*Translated by Mark Ament
