São Paulo – Brazilian textile sector businessmen may have a commercial partner in the Arab world. The director general at Tags Retailers and representatives of clothes brand Giordono, in Saudi Arabia, Hani Abdulaziz Saab, is in the country participating in the Buyer Project promoted by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and was greatly impressed with Brazilian fashion.
"This is my first trip to Brazil and I am extremely impressed. I liked the material, the design, the colours. I see great quality here with good chances of competing with global brands, also in the organisations of windows and shops,” said Saab, who came to Brazil seeking textile products, jeans and female fashion.
On Tuesday morning, the Saudi businessman spoke to representatives of several companies, among them Hering, a traditional garment producer from Blumenau, Santa Catarina. He, in fact , even went to visit one of the brand shops on Paulista Avenue. "I really liked what I have seen up to now and believe that we will soon have full chances of closing deals,” he guaranteed. Saab also made a point of praising the Brazilian hospitality. "I have already travelled much, to several different countries and am very happy that I do not feel foreign here. The people are very friendly, caring and educated,” he finished off.
Another company that made promising contacts with Tags Retailers was Brazilroxx, a maker of jeans that already exports to over 13 countries, among them Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. "He liked our product, found it unique as women love gloss there, embroidery, stone and our products are customized and embroidered by hand,” said the company director, Renato Pileggi. "Now we must await the furthering of negotiations,” said Leandro Solera Pileggi, who is the brand distributor in the United States.
Also from Saudi Arabia, the roundtables include pharmaceutical company Batterjee Factory, of holding Baterjee, which operates in several sectors, like cosmetics, food, personal hygiene, garments, battery recycling, oil and gas. The general manager at laboratory Aché, João Paulo Vissoci, was pleased with his meeting with the representative at the Saudi company. "What was most important was making the first contact. We are among the main laboratories in Brazil, with over 200 products in our portfolio, and some should generate interest,” he pointed out.
For supermarkets
This is the second part of the Buyer Project in the food sector and this time three more distributors and supermarket chains from the Emirates, Yemen and Algeria are participating in meetings with Brazilian exporters at the offices of the Arab Brazilian Chamber, in São Paulo.
From Yemen, the company participating in the project is Alsaeed Trading, which is seeking products like milk and dairy products, honey, sugar, vegetables, biscuits, juice and sweets, among others, in Brazil. The Arab company has operations in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Malaysia and Indonesia. "Brazilian companies have good products and I am interested mainly in sweets and lollipops. I am optimistic with regard to closing deals in future,” said the international business manager, Mohammed Faroq.
From Algeria, came company Numidis, a branch of Cevital group, specialized in distribution of food products for great supermarkets, like Uno City, a supermarket belonging to the group. Numidis was established in January 2007 and was the first private company in Algeria to operate in the distribution of food products in the country. Currently, the group is opening five local supermarkets and seeks in Brazil all kinds of foods.
"We are seeking typically Brazilian products like heart of Palm, peanut and fruit and sweet preserves with quality and competitive prices,” said the director general, Samir Baziz. According to him, of the six companies he contacted on Tuesday morning, he believes that he may close deals with Riclan, which has a factory in Rio Claro, in the interior of São Paulo and Boavistense, from Rio Grande do Sul. The export manager at Boavistense, William Suyama, also had the same impression as that of Numidis. "We have already exported to Saudi Arabia, Sudan and the Emirates and believe that this should be a great opportunity to open new markets,” he said.
Meats and etc..
Among the Brazilian companies present was the JBS/Friboi group, one of the main producers of meats and an exporter to over 15 Arab countries. The company participated in the project with the objective of opening new channels and winning new clients in the Arab market. "We want to get closer to the end consumer so that he may have faster access to our products and at more competitive prices,” said Rada Saleh, who is responsible for group exports.
Another company that is participating in the event is the Emirates branch of German company Binca International. It is responsible for distribution of food to Emirates Catering, for the aviation sector, and to Jumeirah Group, in hotels. The roundtables should continue on Tuesday afternoon (25) and Wednesday (26), at the Arab Brazilian Chamber offices.
*Translated by Mark Ament
