São Paulo – The Middle East is one of the markets targeted in the Brazilian trade promotion strategy. This information was disclosed by the director of the Trade Promotion and Investment Department (DPR) at the Brazilian Foreign Office (Itamaraty), Rubens Gama, who visited the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, in São Paulo, on Tuesday (7).
According to him, this means that Brazilian government organisations that work in the area, especially the DPR and the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex), consider the region one of those with the greatest potential for greater imports of Brazilian products over the next five years.
In this respect, the government plans to promote participation in “several” business fairs and other events in the Middle East this year and in coming years, with the support of the Arab Brazilian Chamber. “The idea is that whenever a group of companies is interested in exhibiting at a fair, organizing a delegation, we may provide support,” said the diplomat.
This support is granted by the commercial department of Brazilian embassies. In November, the DPR promoted in Doha, Qatar, a meeting with representatives of these departments who are based in the Middle East and North Africa.
At the meeting, according to Gama, some of the main business events in the region were identified, as were the sectors that may be explored, including food, building material, high-end garments, sophisticated shoes and leather products, jewellery, machinery and equipment, among others.
The results of this meeting were detailed in a report published by the Itamaraty last week. The study includes information about Arab and non-Arab nations. According to the diplomat, more detailed market studies should be made.
Among the promotion activities forecasted by the government this year are a trade mission to Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, to be promoted by the Apex from February 12th to 16th, participation in Algerian agricultural fair Djazagro, from April 22nd to 26th, and Khartoum International Fair, in Sudan, which took place in late January. All activities have the support of the Arab Brazilian Chamber.
To Gama, Brazil also needs to fill some space in relations with the Arabs. He said, for example, that businessmen need to cultivate long-term relations in the region, investing in constant presence in the countries in which they seek business and recalling that the Arabs greatly appreciate personal contact.
He added that some markets may be better explored and explained that he was recently visited by the ambassadors of Tunisia and Morocco in Brasília, who showed interest in improving ties of their countries with Brazil.
Apart from the Middle East, other markets considered highlight by the government are Africa, Asia – mainly the Southeast – and Latin America. “That does not mean we are going to stop trying to expand relations with more mature markets, but the main opportunities seem to be in emerging markets,” he declared. “In the mature nations, [market] positions are taken and those countries are not living a moment of great expansion,” he finished off.
*Translated by Mark Ament
