Exports by Brazil's medical, hospital and laboratory equipment maker Fanem rose 35% last year. According to company's executive director, Marlene Schmidt, South America is the main destination for sales by the company with the Arab market coming in second.
According to Schmidt, Fanem already counts on exclusive representatives in several Arab countries and exports to Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia, Bahrain, Qatar, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Sudan, Iraq, Libya and Yemen.
"Working with the Arab market is a great pleasure," she added. According to the director, the increase in exports to the region caused the company to employ a regional manager in Jordan to supply the market.
Exports to the Arabs began in 2000. The first contact was made in São Paulo, at Hospitalar fair. In three years, Fanem was already selling to seven Arab nations. "Nowadays I am very happy to know that the great luxury hospitals of Dubai use our products," stated Schmidt. She is also proud to say that it was in a Fanem incubator that the Algerian sextuplets, born in 2006, were kept.
The main products shipped to the Arab countries are in the neonatal line: heated and common cribs and phototherapy equipment – for light treatment, among others. The company is studying the possibility of opening an assembly line in an Arab country. "The opening of a new base should simplify exports to the region," stated Schmidt.
According to the director, in 2008 the company is going to participate in the Arab Health medical and hospital product fair once again, in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. Also this year, Fanem is going to participate for the first time in a fair in Iran, which is not an Arab country, but is located in the Middle East. This, according to Schmidt, should also help boost sales to the region.
The company's target for this year is to export to 100 countries. Up to November last year, Fanem exported to 91, in 2006 they were 89 and in 2005, 60.
According to Schmidt, of total Brazilian exports of incubators and neonatal products, 95% are credited to Fanem, which is headquartered in the city of Guarulhos, in the southeastern Brazilian state of São Paulo, and employs 300 people. The company neonatal production represents 18% of the global production of this kind of equipment.
Established in 1924, Fanem was the pioneer in production of medical equipment. Exports began in the 1970s and no longer stopped. Over the last six years, the company's sales grew 240%. Last year, company revenues rose 20%.
Contact
Fanem
Tel: (+55 11) 6972-5700
Fax: (+55 11) 6979-1575
Email: comercial@fanem.com.br
Site: www.fanem.com.br
Anba – www.anba.com.br
