Agência de Notícias Brasil Árabe

São Paulo – The Brazilian personal hygiene, perfumery and cosmetics industry is going to try to open new markets in Saudi Arabia this year. The country was elected one of the priority markets for the Beautycare Brazil, an export incentive program that was developed by the Brazilian Association of Toiletries, Perfumes & Cosmetics Industries (Abihpec) and the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil). The agreement between both organisations was renewed early this month.

“Saudi Arabia is the main market in the Middle East and has great potential for the sector,” explained the Foreign Trade manager at the Abihpec, Silvana Gomes. She explained that every year, companies in the Beautycare participate in the Beautyworld Middle East fair, which takes place in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, and that, despite attracting importers from countries in the region, the exhibition does not attract a great number of Saudi buyers. “There was not significant evolution in business with Saudi Arabia after the fair,” said Silvana.

For this reason, after the next edition of the Beautycare Middle East, to take place in July this year, the Abihpec and Apex project should take Brazilian companies to Saudi Arabia to seek business. In coming days a professional at the Abihpec should travel to the country to prospect the market and prepare the June trip. The idea, according to Silvana, is for Brazilian industry to have meetings with importers and distributors. They should visit the organisations, according to the export manager.

Currently, the Beautycare project includes 42 companies. Some of them have been selected to visit Saudi Arabia. According to Silvana, no more than ten companies should be taken – those with the greatest business perspectives and, for example, which already have the sanitary documentation required by the local market and are registered at the regulatory agency. According to the export manager at Abihpec, up to now Brazilian sector products that sell best in the region are hair moisturiser.

Apart from Saudi Arabia, also elected as priority markets this year and next are Angola, Colombia, Mozambique, Peru and Portugal. The target for 2010 is for the participating companies to expand foreign trade by another 15%. That was the growth registered in 2009. They sold a total of US$ 95 million on the foreign market. The expansion took place contrary to what happened in the sector as a whole, whose foreign sales dropped 9.4% to US$ 587 million.

Silvana explained that Beautycare Brazil recommended that the companies in the program invest in the international market, according to their needs. The activities, to help them in this route, included from in-depth analysis of opportunities abroad, with trips by teams for this purpose, to the purchase of international data banks, analysed and distributed, among others. Currently, around 70% of the exports of companies in the program go to Latin America.

Among the initiatives for this year, the Beautycare Brazil is distributing to companies an educational pack of cards, with information about steps to be taken for growth on the foreign market. In the pack of cards – which may be used for playing in the traditional manner – businessmen find figures about the market in each of the countries elected as priority for the program. They may, for example, see how much the Saudis consume in each of the areas of the personal hygiene, perfumery and cosmetics, and what the main product distribution channels are. The objective is for companies to work on summarised planning for the foreign market considering the figures in the pack.

*Translated by Mark Ament