Marina Sarruf*
Marina.sarruf@anba.com.br
São Paulo – The capital of Sudan, Khartoum, will have a new shopping mall for construction material, furniture, and auto parts in January, and the company in charge of the project, Abu Alfadil Company, seeks Brazilian companies interested in establishing franchises at the mall. "The idea is also for the Brazilian companies to form joint ventures with Sudanese companies," said to ANBA the general manager at Abu Alfadil Furniture, which belongs to the Sudanese group Hashim Elfadil.
The businessman, who participated in the business roundtables of the Buyer Project at the International Trade Fair for Furniture Exports and Sales (Fenavem), which ended yesterday in the southeastern Brazilian city of São Paulo, has made many contacts with Brazilian furniture makers, and expects to close deals soon. "I was pleased with many different products. I am going to visit some manufacturers of wooden doors and construction material," said Elfadil.
According to him, the new two-storey mall will have a total area of 2,000 square metres. The Sudanese company does not yet import from Brazil. The company works mainly with the Asian and European markets. The Abu Alfadil Company owns eight stores in Sudan, in various sectors. The company has 150 employees.
In addition to Elfadil, other Arab businessmen who attended the business roundtables at Fenavem also became interested in Brazilian furniture, and are seeking to do long-term business. One such example is the president at the Qatari company Fantasia Design& Decoration, Jamal Al-Hariri, who will travel on Friday (10) to Caxias do Sul, in the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, to visit a factory owned by a Brazilian company. "If I really do like the furniture, I want them to be our agents in Qatar," he said.
According to Al-Hariri, there are many construction works underway in Qatar, and Fantasia Design & Decoration is one of the main suppliers of furniture and decorative objects to the new projects.
Another businessman who showed interest in Brazilian furniture was project manager Ghassan Serhan, of the Kuwaiti company Al-Farsi Kitchens. "I am certain that I am going to close deals. This will be my first time importing from Brazil," said Serhan, who will also visit factories in the states of São Paulo (SE) and Rio Grande do Sul (S).
Serhan is looking for medium- and high-end kitchen cabinets. The Kuwaiti company already imports from Italy, Germany, Saudi Arabia, England, Canada, among others. "We want to find a Brazilian company to provide us with a steady supply of quality furniture. We do not want to import just once," he claimed.
In total, four Arab importers participated in the business roundtables promoted by the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex) and the Brazilian Furniture Industry Association (Abimóvel). The Fenavem started on Monday and will continue until next Saturday (11th).
Contacts
Abu Alfadil Furniture
Tel. +249 1 8377-5244
Fax: +249 1 8378-4540
Email: hashim@abualfadil.com
Site: www.abualfadil.com
Al-Farsi Kitchens
Email: farsi4u@farsi4u.com
Site: www.farsi4u.com
Fantasia Design & Decoration
Tel. +974 4620-128
Fax: +974 4620-176
Email: jamalalhariri@hotmail.com
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
