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>> Welcome to the Emirate of Dubai
in the United Arab Emirates.
Here we are today at the Arab Health Show, the second largest
of its kind in the entire world.
And down there are thousands of physicians and nurses,
and buyers of medical equipment.
If you get sick, this would be a great place to do it today.
Now there are also 200 U.S. companies in the U.S. Pavilion.
They're here because it's a great place to sell their goods
and services, and we're going to give you some reasons why.
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GDP here is in excess of 4% a year, double that of the U.S.,
and almost triple that of Europe.
It's a very wealthy region.
Health care is a major concern, next to energy, I believe,
is the largest expenditure in the Middle East.
Takes someone to visit this show to understand the dynamic of it.
Once they're here, they realize it's a real business.
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>> Right now our company enjoys about 85%
of our total revenues from exports.
Of our total revenues for the company, more than 25% come
from the Middle Eastern markets.
Less than 1%, 0 bad debt write-off pertaining to business
that we do in the Middle East.
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>> So far it's big.
[Laughing] I mean the show is flat out big.
Everything you can imagine is here.
I don't know if I've seen this many people other
than like a New York City subway, but it's a lot,
a lot of people, and from every country in the world,
doing every product possible affiliated with health care.
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>> I have come to this show because I need
to get some companies to distribute their product,
and I want reliable companies.
>> Why U.S. products and not Turkish, or Chinese,
or Japanese, or all of the others at these things?
>> The products we know already are reliable,
and they can last long.
Most U.S. companies maintain good quality,
and because you do not want product that won't work.
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>> Why do you think U.S. companies are so timid
when it comes to traveling overseas for business,
particularly in this area.
>> Oh, because they think the news you see, like CNN and all,
is always focused on the bad and bloody things.
Just like people here think that it's very dangerous in America
because all they see is the horrors
like the school shooting.
They think it's very dangerous in America,
so it's a misconception because they don't ever show children
and grandmothers walking around.
They show the bloody scenes.
>> Here is another buyer looking for U.S. suppliers.
>> My name is Yahya Alami [phonetic].
I work for Saudi Company called Jamjoom Medical Industries
Company, Ltd., one
of the largest companies Saudi Arabia Medical
Disposals [phonetic].
>> Will Mr. Alami make a big purchase?
Let's check back with him later.
Next, reason to attend an international trade show #2 help
meeting buyers with money.
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>> My name is Jusif Almehedi.
I'm a Commercial Specialist from the Commercial Service office
in the Embassy of the U.S. in Kuwait, and we're here
in Arab Health 2013, heading a delegation of 10 companies,
10 Kuwait local companies.
It has been an exciting couple days so far.
There's a plenty opportunities for [inaudible] success stories.
>> Big market in Kuwait for health care and other things.
>> Well it is.
A couple years back,
the government proofed Kuwait initiated the
so called national development plan, $104 billion plan
to upgrade several infrastructures,
including the health care.
About $3 billion will be spent in the coming few years
to upgrade the health care sector,
including building several general hospitals,
so we're really looking forward to introduce Kuwait
to the participating companies here, and looking forward
to really strike some good deals and success stories.
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>> I'm helping U.S. company's match make
with Egyptian companies.
We have a delegation of 29 Egyptian companies present
in the Arab Health, and we're doing show time meetings
with U.S. companies.
There is a lot of demand for the U.S. companies to enter
into the Egyptian market, as we do not have high tech,
low cost production of American devices in Egypt.
We depend mainly on important devices,
and U.S. products are famous for their good quality,
and they have a high reputation in the Egyptian market.
>> You think there'll be some deals before the end
of the week?
>> Of course.
Of course, there will be a lot of deals.
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>> My advice is come to trade shows like this
to really start learning about the market,
learning about the customers,
meeting potential partners who can help you.
So this is where half of our meetings are
with potential distributors and partners, so it can really help,
especially small companies, go from nothing
to actually being effective and selling
in this part of the world.
You have to really find partners who can help you market sell
to this part of the world,
because you don't have the resources to do it yourself.
So our strategy, we have 100 distributors around the world
who are our marketing partners.
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>> It's very important to meet the distributors who we have
in the region, and to find new distributors.
I was told once several years ago by a person
out of Saudi Arabia that they don't like doing business
with companies unless they get to see them first hand,
and get to see face-to-face.
Without having a face-to-face contact with our distributors
and future distributors, we can't do business here.
So it's incredibly important to be here and see them.
>> International trade shows like Arab Health are a great way
to meet crowds of qualified buyers under one roof.
But sitting in a booth watching the world go
by may not generate many sales.
Behind the scenes, the most successful U.S. companies are
getting help.
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>> You met Jusif and Rania [phonetic],
who bring buyer delegations from their countries.
But there's even more help available.
>> It is, and it's not just the commercial officers like myself
who work in Abu Dubai, or Dubai, or elsewhere.
In this market, the United Arab Emirates, but in many places,
business is often the highest priority
of the entire diplomatic mission.
Here, my ambassador will publicly say probably once today
that his highest priority is business, and he means it.
Everybody in the Embassy who can pitch in,
does pitch in to help U.S. businesses operating overseas.
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>> U.S. Ambassador, Michael Corbin,
still has high expectations for this year's exhibition building
on last year's success.
>> As you know, this health care products
and health care services sell themselves to a certain extent
because the United States has some
of the best health care products in the world.
>> U.S. Commercial Services made this possible.
It started with a Webinar that we were on a few months ago,
and we've known about the show,
but that was the final kick to come.
Didn't quite know what to expect.
A lot of times things of this nature have a lot of smoke
and mirrors, and they buff things
up to make them look a lot better than they really are.
These people are really doing what they say they're going
to do.
To be able to sit down and meet with Embassy delegates and learn
about the region, and get their honest feedback.
And it's not all good.
But to be able to wade through months, probably years
of learning and testing the water,
and already have someone who's already done it.
Already have the background checks on the agents
and distributors, and to be able to trust them.
Use them as not only a liaison, but as your advisors.
It's Fantastic.
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>> There are probably, I don't know how many states are here,
5 or 10 states.
We all have our own kind of expertise in house.
But we always partner with the commercial service
because they have offices around the world
and augment our skills very well.
So at this show, there are commercial specialists
throughout the gulf are here.
So we have a chance for us to meet with them,
and for our companies to meet with them.
So I'd say it's a great hands-on kind of help that we get
from these experts from the commercial service
in these markets.
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>> So the first thing is to understand
that you don't stand alone.
The mechanisms that we spoke about earlier
with the U.S. Commerce Department, Enterprise Florida,
the World Chamber, organizations
such as this provide a phenomenal amount of support,
a lot of which is free or extremely cost sensitive
for you to participate in.
So you can really screen the activity even before you
show up.
On the back side of the transactions,
all of our receivables are insured
through the U.S. Export/Import Bank, so we have less
than a 5% probability of having any funds lost due
to a poor transaction using these mechanisms
that are freely available to us.
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>> Our export express program will provide financing
under half a million dollars for companies
to support their activities,
like attending the Arab Health Show,
or any other export development costs that they might have.
And for those companies that need export help in any regard,
Export Express is an excellent tool to get there.
>> One of the things that the U.S. Census Bureau does that's
vitally important is provide data to U.S. companies to know
if they can be competitive.
So what we actually have been preparing for companies is
to let them know that they're medical products are actually
competitive and viable in this market.
Orthopedic products, for example,
we show them their particular market worldwide,
and then we also narrowed it just to Middle East countries,
and they didn't realize, #1, that Census provided
that information, and then they didn't realize that, wow,
our product is being exported here so well already,
this is a market we can truly be competitive in.
>> To review, there are three main reasons
to attend an international trade show.
The shows are often located in high-growth markets,
and attract buyers with money to spend.
Help is available before, during, and after the show.
The U.S. government and some state governments provide
valuable assistance to help you get the most
out of international trade shows.
For more information, visit export.gov.
We promised to tell you what happened to Mr. Alami,
the buyer from Saudi Arabia.
>> Was there good news
for an autoclave company that you represent?
>> Yes, yes, yes, we just bought actually two big sterilization
medical from ETC, near New York and Philadelphia, and this was
about a deal of $2 million.
Yes. Of Sterilization units.
>> We thank you very much for negotiating that sale.
>> Thank you, and I take this opportunity
to thank U.S. Commercial Service for administering trade
that they always help us to find the right suitable candidates.
>> Thank you very much for joining us
at the Arab Health Show in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
We hope during the next year you will decide to come to one
of these shows and receive the services
of the U.S. Commercial Service and sell your products
at hundreds of trade shows all over the world.
From Dubai, I'm Doug Barry of the U.S. Commercial Service.
Thanks for joining us.
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