>> 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.

[ Music ]

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.

[ Music ]

>> 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.

[ Music ]

>> 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.

[ Music ]

>> 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.

[ Music ]

>> 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.

[ Silence ]

[ Music ]

>> 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.

[ Music ]

>> 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.

[ Music ]

>> 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.

[ Music ]

>> 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.

[ Music ]

>> 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.

[ Music ]

>> 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.

[ Music ]

>> 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.

[ Music ]

>> 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.

[ Music ]

>> 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.