Geovana Pagel
São Paulo – Over 400 domestic and international investors are going to participate in Space Brazil, to be inaugurate by Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at 02:40pm on Monday. The Space, created by the federal government to present investment and business opportunities, will be taking place in parallel to the 11th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad).
The 1,380 square metre space will include representations from ministries and state-owned companies who will be presenting their projects to private companies. During the event, the ministers will show projects connected to their ministries, including Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), the new government industrial policy, opportunities in agribusiness, the energy sector, and in the Free Zone of Manaus, in the state of Amazonas, northern Brazil.
Eyeing the Middle East
Biscuit producer Bela Vista is one of the four Brazilian companies present at the Brazilian Export Promotion Agency (Apex) stand. The company from the state of São Paulo has been exporting its products for over 10 years, and wants to intensify sales to the Middle East in 2004.
"We shipped a container of biscuits to Lebanon last year. Our objective is now to find a representative for the entire region," stated Alexandre Cassettari, Bela Vista export manager.
According to the manager, 80% of the company international distributors are Arabs who live in different countries around the world. "This goes to show the Arab continuous tradition of working with spices and food," he evaluates.
Cassettari explains that the Middle East is the region that has generated the greatest number of contacts in international fairs. "We believe the Arab countries will be great partners, starting this year," he guarantees.
