This Friday (20) in your ANBA Bulletin: From January to November, exports of shoes from Brazil to the Arab world were up by nearly 40% from a year ago. The United Arab Emirates are the main destination in the region. Sales to that country were up 68% in the same comparison. “We’ve been working on this market for a few years now, and the results are great,” Brazilian Footwear Industries Association (Abicalçados) Haroldo Ferreira said. He believes that exports may continue to grow in 2020.

And a furniture design company based in Taubaté, São Paulo is looking to branch out into the Arab world. Total Design sells unusual furniture and décor items built from throwaway car parts. Businessman Sidnei Santos came up with the idea in his auto repair center. “A customer showed up at the shop with a wrecked 1960s VW Beetle. The car’s side had been bashed in and he didn’t want to fix it, just replace the bumper. I did the job and kept the original bumper. Later on, I restored it and created the Beetle-Couch,” he told our reporter Bruna Garcia on his first design work.

Check also that Brazilian singer Rhanna released her first single Anarruanda this Friday. The song was composed by Bozzo Barretti, a former Capital Inicial member, and produced by Arnaldo Saccomani. The track has an Arab influence and features a darbuka in percussion, something that the artist plans to maintain during her career. “I want the ‘Arab pop’ to be popular, to make people relate to it,” she told our reporter Thais Sousa.