Brazil participates for the second consecutive time with a pavilion organized by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MPLS), with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE) and the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (CCAB), the 9th edition of SIAL Middle East, one of the leading food and beverage fairs in the Middle East. The fair began on Monday (10), in the city of Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates.
The Brazil Pavilion has 108 m2 and has all the structure and support services for 14 Brazilian companies selected to participate in the event. Beef, Amazonian fruits, bee products, grape, mango, coffee, biscuits, candies and confections are some of the products promoted at the event. The Brazilian booth was inaugurated by the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, Sheik Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and the Brazilian ambassador to Abu Dhabi, Fernando Luís Lemos Church.
For the first time, Brazil had two products selected to participate in SIAL Innovation, a premium food competition, with açaí drink from ABN8 Trading and Tapioca Express from AE Negócios Internacionais. The latter was classified as a finalist and evaluated among the eight best products of the fair.
Estimates for the first days of the event, according to Brazilian exhibitors, confirm the numbers of the last edition of business closing around US $ 20 million.
Last year, the event gathered more than 20 thousand visitors from 90 nationalities, 950 exhibitors from 47 countries and more than 30 national pavilions. The UAE functions as an important distribution center for the entire region. In the last edition, according to data provided by the Brazilian exhibitors themselves, the initial expectation of new business for the 12 months following the fair was estimated at more than US $ 20 million.
In October this year, the MPLS also participated in Agriscape, an international agricultural investment fair in Abu Dhabi. At the opportunity, a portfolio of Brazilian agricultural projects opened to foreign investors was presented. The mission fair intends, in parallel, also to resume the contacts made at that time.
This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.