Dubai: The UAE, targeted as a potential hub for Brazilian trade in the Middle East, represents a growing market for Brazilian halal food exports, though it experienced a sharp decline in construction materials trade over the past three years.

"Brazil needs to discover the potential of trade ties with the UAE," Mauricio Borges, business director of Apex-Brasil at the first Brazil Trade Middle East Expo, told Gulf News yesterday. "There is potential for growth in trade relations."

With a volume of $1.8 billion (Dh6.62 billion) between Brazil and the UAE, trade more than doubled between 2003 and 2009, but dropped from 2008 to 2009 by 5 per cent.

In 2009, Brazil exported $1.7 billion worth of goods to the UAE, a steady increase since 2003, and imported goods worth $110 million.

Brazil is a major food source for the GCC, the world's largest food-importing region, supplying beef and poultry, fruit juices, sugar and sugar cane ethanol.

The UAE, which is not a self-sufficient food producer, imported food and beverage products worth $117 million from Brazil in 2009.

Largest producer

"There is quite a high demand for halal food in the region," said Borges. "Brazil is one of the largest producers of chicken and beef in the world and the UAE is among the top five importers of [Brazilian] halal meat."

In 2009 the UAE imported $45.6 million worth of natural and processed beef, according to a country report by the Association of Brazilian Beef Exporters.

Brazilian food products are supposed to be certified by Cibal Halal, the Brazilian Islamic Centre for Halal Food Stuff Association.

"Most companies consider going halal at this time," said Eduardo Moraes, a representative of Brazilian multi-food products company Latinex International.

"The will go through the process from scratch. There's a market for it that they can't ignore."

Moraes noted that the Brazilian exporting incentives were "European quality standards with emerging country prices".

"The UAE is a major food importer. On the upside, this is an opportunity for exporters because the UAE is not self-sufficient.

"On the downside, this is a threat to us because it has an open economy with many strong players that have been here forever," Moraes, noted.

"We are trying to fill the gap between opportunity and threat."

On the other hand, UAE imports of Brazilian construction materials declined from $21.9 million in the first quarter of 2008 to $13.4 million in the corresponding period of 2009, and down to $9.7 million in 2010.