Alexandre Rocha
São Paulo – Brazilian machinery and equipment export to the United Arab Emirates have risen around 51.81% in the first four months of the year. In all, sector shipping to the Arabian Gulf totalled US$ 12.231 million, against US$ 8.057 million registered in the same period in 2003, according to figures supplied by the Brazilian Machinery Manufacturers Association (Abimaq).
The United Arab Emirates are in 21st place in the rank of the 50 main buyers of sector products in 2004. The list also includes Egypt, with purchases that totalled US$ 2.843 million in the first quarter. The value, however, is little less than that registered in the same period last year, which totalled US$ 2.857 million.
"Brazil was not turned to those markets, but they are now being sought by sector companies as they present a purchase potential that has not yet been explored," stated Abimaq president Luiz Carlos Delben Leite on Monday (31).
According to him, up to very recently, the Arab countries and other markets considered alternative, such as South Africa, China, and Russia, have been attracting the attention of the Brazilian government, resulting in official missions and participation in fairs and, consequently, in the "opening of doors" to businessmen.
General
In all, sector export generated US$ 1.868 billion in the first months of the year, against US$ 1.141 billion in the same period last year, meaning an increase of 32.11%.
Despite the interest of new markets, the most traditional continue leading the import market, including those that are large exporters of machinery and equipment, such as the United States, Germany, and Italy.
The first country in the list is the United States, with purchases of US$ 536.8 million, followed by Argentina (US$ 248.8 million), Germany (US$ 142.6 million), Mexico (US$ 134 million), the United Kingdom (US$ 82.6 million), and Italy (US$ 56.4 million). China comes in 7th, with import of US$ 55.2 million, followed by Chile, Venezuela, and France.
Demand
On Monday, Delben Leite met Development, Industry, and Foreign Trade minister Luiz Fernando Furlan in the financial city of São Paulo, in southeastern Brazil, to present a series of demands by sector businessmen.
Among these demands is the fast implementation of Modermaq, a financing program for the purchase of capital goods announced by the federal government in March. Delben Leite left the meeting saying that the funds should be available up to the end of this week.
The program supported by the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES), forecasts the liberation of US$ 2.5 billion in funds for the financing of machinery and equipment.
Interest should be 14.95% a year. The Abimaq also wants to reduce rates to the same levels as those practiced by Moderfrota, a similar program destined to the transport sector. According to Delben Leite, Moderfrota interest is 12.75% a year for values over US$ 80,000 and 8.75% for lower values. Regarding these topics, Furlan did not make any comment.
A study released by the Abimaq at the end of last year revealed that sector businessmen intended to invest around US$ 2 billion in production this year. According to Delben Leite, with Modermaq, this value may be over US$ 2.6 billion.
"Businessmen are after the international market, but for this the companies must be competitive," stated the Abimaq president, referring to the continuous need for modernization of the industrial park. Despite the increase in export, the sector trade balance still shows a deficit for Brazil.
In the tax area, Delben Leite asked Furlan for changes in the methods of incidence of the PIS (welfare tax) and Cofins (social security tax). The Abimaq wants the taxes to be charged from all companies as value added taxes. "Everything the company buys, will be credited of 7.6%, and everything it sells will have the same percentage subtracted," stated Delben Leite.
Sector businessmen also want to expand the list of products benefited by a reduction of Industrialized Product Tax (IPI) on capital goods.
Of all the Abimaq requests, the only one that received immediate answer was the liberation of Modermaq funds. Furlan said that he would forward the other demand to other government organizations, especially the Finance Ministry.
"But I was very satisfied on leaving. Minister Furlan normally has good perception of this kind of subject, and he forwards them within the government," finished Delben Leite.
