São Paulo – The government of Morocco should promote, from November 21st to 25th, in Casablanca, the 14th International Building Salon (SIB, in the French acronym) and aims to have Brazil as the honoured country. According to information disclosed by the Brazilian Foreign Office (Itamaraty), the choice was made by the Minister of Habitation, Urbanism and Urban Policy, which promotes the fair in partnership between the Fair and Exhibition Department of Casablanca (Ofec, in the French acronym). Brazilian businessmen may exhibit or visit the event.
On choosing the country, according to the Itamaraty, Moroccans took into consideration the Brazilian building industry’s capacity and the Brazilian government’s housing policies. The fair brings together building material and service sector companies.
The Itamaraty is approaching private organisations about the interest in exhibiting at the fair to define the scope of Brazilian participation. The fact that the country is being honoured grants it special prominence at the event.
According to the Moroccan Housing Ministry, 275,500 housing units were built in the country in 2011, 135,500 for lower income families. The building area and public works employ over one million people in the North African nation.
In 2010, direct investment in the sector was estimated at 121 billion Moroccan dirhams (US$ 13.4 billion), according to the Housing ministry. Foreign direct investment in the area was 7.4 billion dirhams (US$ 822 million) in 2010, growth of 33% over 2009.
In the last edition, in 2010, the SIB had 583 exhibitors from de 18 countries, 129,000 visitors and covered an area of 20,000 square meters. This year, the organizers expect 650 exhibitors and 150,000 visitors.
Further information
Site: www.sib.ma
*Translated by Mark Ament
