Dubai – Dubai-based digital company Tradeling has experienced a 25-fold increase in the volume of goods and a 34-fold growth in its customer base in 2021. The company is focused on B2B transactions in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and wants to bring more products from Brazil to the region.
The company’s e-commerce connects sellers and buyers from different industries such as food & beverage, office & stationery, health & personal care, consumer electronics, fashion & accessories, automotive, and others.
The company was founded in February 2020 through the government initiative Dubai 10x and was financed by the government of the emirate. The Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) visited the headquarters of its member in the Dubai Airport Free Zone (DAFZA).
ABCC president Osmar Chohfi and secretary-general Tamer Mansour were welcomed by the company’s CEO Marius Ciavola, director of Operations Stefano Maggioli and Communications manager Hadil El Maki. “We started in Gulfood [the region’s largest food and beverage trade show], with food and beverage, but the pandemic has made us adapt and reevaluate, so we included health & personal care products, consumer electronics, stationery, and construction & hardware,” Ciavola said during his presentation. Now the company has over ten categories of products.
With the exponential growth, the company now has 180 employees from 36 nationalities.
“We facilitate the work for those wishing to import or manufacture,” Ciavola said. The CEO took up the position last March. Tradeling is now focused on expanding into Egypt and Saudi Arabia with local offices. For now, there are developers in both countries, but the idea is having full sales and marketing teams in these offices to expand them locally.
Tradeling serves all GCC countries and offers support in finances, certifications, freight, and other services for companies. Now, they are investing in fulfillment centers. These are strategically located warehouses to offer faster deliveries for the clients. This a strategy created by Amazon that they’re implementing in the company, Ciavola said. He previously worked for the US company.
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The company charges no taxes for the services it offers but only a 5%-8% tax on what’s sold on the platform. “When we bring a product to a fulfillment center, we get the its custody for the duration of the contract and help companies sell them here, so we charge a value that’s 1% or 2% higher,” he explained. They already have two distribution centers in Dubai and plan to open one more soon. The company can’t store perishable foods, only dry and non-perishable items, as well as other products.
The firm has big clients like Amazon, Apple and Unilever, and it has partnered up with several international entities, like the ABCC, Dubai International Financial Center, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile (ProChile).
Ambassador Osmar Chohfi said he was impressed by Ciavola’s presentation. Tamer Mansour added that the company can help many Brazilian companies that can’t bring their products by themselves and that it would be interesting for Brazil-based small- and medium-sized enterprises to break into this market. He also said that some Brazilian banks are interested in working in the region.
The company will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the ABCC to strengthen the collaboration between the parties. The meeting was attended by ABCC International Relations Fernanda Baltazar, Dubai-based international office head Rafael Solimeo and International Business executive Noury Dweidary.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
