Casablanca and São Paulo – Businessmen who participated in the mission to North Africa that was organized by the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade arrived on Saturday (31) in Cumbica Air Base, in the city of Guarulhos, with their luggage full of orders, trade consultations, new contacts and much work for coming months.
This is the case with François Pequerul, the owner of trading company Eurocom Brasil, specialized in agricultural commodities. He closed deals in the four countries visited by the Brazilian delegation, headed by minister Miguel Jorge. In Libya he received an order for rice, in Tunisia it was five containers of condensed milk, in Algeria another 100 tonnes of rice and good contacts were made in Morocco, including a proposal for trade representation by a local cooperative.
According to him, in the case of rice, the main North African suppliers of rice are the Asian countries and the mission served to show the importers that Brazil is an option to be considered. "We have taken a good stance. With these first shipments, if they are well accepted, we may come to have an important market," he said.
Despite the financial crisis, Pequerul believes that 2009 will be a good year for the food sector. In the first place because people cannot stop eating. Apart from that, Brazilian companies are malleable and can adapt products to the needs of clients, which guarantees a differential to the country. "We may adjust the business, create a format that is cheap, that adapts to the client’s import capacity," he pointed out.
Apart from contact with importers, the mission also generated opportunities for the trading company to find new suppliers among the companies that participated in the delegation itself, one in the chicken and another in the fruit sector. Pequerul, who has already been a director at Serlac, the main trading company in the dairy sector in Brazil, opened Eurocom around a year and a half ago and has contact with over 45 countries, currently exporting to 15.
Serlac also marked presence in the mission, through its president, Alfredo de Goeye. The company is responsible for exports by Itambé, the largest dairy in Brazil. "It was an excellent opportunity to improve our contacts and expand our potential buyer base," said the executive.
According to him, the company exports the equivalent to US$ 30 million a year to Libya, Algeria and Tunisia, with the Algerian market being the greatest. Total Serlac exports are around US$ 250 million a year. "Perspectives are very good, especially for Algeria and Libya, which are great buyers. This increase in the contact base should aid in placement of products in these markets in future," he said.
MGR Company, which makes finished products in marble and granite in Rio de Janeiro, also made promising contacts. According to company director Ronan Moreira, a potential importer in Algeria should visit the factory after Carnival. He believes, however, that there are opportunities in the four countries visited.
In this area the mission also served to show that Brazil might be an alternative supplier. The nations of North Africa usually import marble and granite from Europe. In Libya, Moreira sees possibilities in the expansion of tourist enterprises, in Algeria in the area of hospitals and in Morocco, in civil construction as a whole, including tourist projects.
"The negotiations were more objective, the contacts were very well guided by the embassy," said the businessman about the business roundtables promoted in all steps of the trip. In November, MGR participated in the Big 5 Show, in Dubai, the main fair in the building sector fair in the Middle East, and plans to invest much in sales to the Arab world.
Company Widitec, from Rio Grande do Sul, which produces devices for the control of grain storage, sees possibilities in Libya and Algeria. In Algeria, for example, the government wants to provide incentives to greater production of cereals, which should boost the demand for silos and, consequently, for equipment for automation of storage processes.
"It is always very positive to participate in delegations like this one. We learn more about the market and interact with people in several areas, managing greater opening and more contacts. It is different from when you travel alone," said Roberta Dill, who represented Widitec in the trip.
Reciprocal interest
To the president at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Salim Taufic Schahin, there was great government and company interest in the countries visited to expand relations with Brazil in the business area. "There are great opportunities in the region and, in different sectors, like infrastructure and agribusiness, etc.," he said.
Schahin, who participated in a mission as the organisation’s president for the first time, said that he was impressed with the care with which local businessmen and authorities received the Brazilian delegation.
He added that the trip also served to make contact with representatives of other heavyweight institutions, both public and private. "The trip was very productive, our connection with government organisations helped improve relations. We invited the authorities of countries visited to come to Brazil to make use of the opportunities we have," he added. "I told both sides that we cannot miss this moment, follow up on the contacts, keep the focus on some themes to have faster results," he added.
*Translated by Mark Ament
