Meetings held during the tournament generated the prospect of US$ 4 million in sales over the next 12 months

In another initiative organized by the Brazilian Furniture Project and the Brazilian Agency for the Promotion of Exports and Investments (Apex-Brazil), with the support of the Association of Furniture Industries of the State of Ceará, the FIFA Confederations Cup was the backdrop for the promotion of exports of furniture manufactured in Brazil.

And the results could not have been more positive, with six companies closing deals worth US$ 390,000 during the event. Another 23 negotiations that were initiated project a turnover of US$ 4 million for the next 12 months.

Sixteen international guests from Mexico, Chile, Peru, Panama, Angola, Mozambique and South Africa, participated in the roundtables held at the Federation of Industries of the State of Ceará (FIEC), for business meetings with eight Brazilian companies: Artefama, Bertolini, BRV, Camas Fênix, Carraro, Lopas, Osterno and Rudnick.

A meeting point, the Hospitality Center, an exclusive space made available by Apex-Brazil at the Castelão Arena, was specially decorated with Brazilian furniture and the program included, in addition to meetings, visits to showrooms of companies participating in the action.

Joelma Lúcia da Silva, from the Furniture Rudnick exports department, on the market since 1938 and now exporting to over 20 countries, explained that the company invited a few buyers, prospecting for deals, that she met in recent furniture fairs and also resumed contact with other buyers who were already part of her client portfolio and that had stopped buying after the global crisis.

"The initiative and the results were fantastic, expanding loyalty, commitment and knowledge between the companies," said Joelma, adding that the company already participates in other similar Apex-Brazil actions with Indy. "We know that the level of loyalty with the customer and found a significant increase not only in the positioning of the company abroad as well as in terms of respect and confidence to continue trading," she added.

Alex Bertolini, export manager for Bertolini, a company with over 40 years of strong performance both in the Brazilian market and abroad, also highlights the climate for doing business that dominated the Hospitality Center. "In the end, we signed contracts with two new customers and begun negotiations with a third, a very positive result," he analyzed. To Alex, the expectations are high in the sense that the model can be repeated during the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

"We invited the leading distributors, importers and representatives of seven home-centers in important target markets. Brazilian exports haven’t reached the US$ 1 billion mark yet, which indicates a great potential for the growth of our market share, which moves approximately US$ 200 billion, "said Joao Araujo Pinto Neto, Brazilian Furniture Project Manager.

For him, a sporting event of the size of the FIFA Confederations Cup generates a special opportunity for the presentation of added value and the differentials in design and sophistication present in the furniture made in Brazil.

The same view is shared by Geraldo Osterno Junior Bastos, president of the Association of Furniture Industries of the State of Ceará (Sindmóveis), which focuses on the importance of Brazilian Furniture as a tool to support the internationalization of companies in the sector and also a growing Project membership of Ceará furniture manufacturers. "It has offered the possibility of inclusion of companies under better global market conditions," he concluded.