Brazilian Annual Healthcare Event Beats Attendance and Sales Records

During the four days of the exposition, Hospitalar 2009 (Sao Paulo, Brazil)--the 16th international fair of products, equipment, services, and technology for hospitals, laboratories, pharmacies, health clinics and medical offices--received 86,000 professional visits, representing a 10% of growth over the 2008 event. One of the factors contributing to the success were the new fairgrounds of Expo Center Norte, with increased exhibition space, a new and modern entry hall, 21 new auditoriums, air-conditioning in all facilities, a new food court and parking lot, and many additional services available for both exhibitors and visitors.

Over 1,200 exhibiting companies (including 400 foreign exhibitors from 32 countries) and 2,980 buyers from more than 60 countries participated in the 2009 fair. A 7% increase in registered buyers (compared to 2008), and an increase of 27% more international visitors (compared to 2007) confirmed the fair's increasing international importance, with Latin-American buyer presence once again the majority among international visitors. Hospitalar is also an accurate indicator of the vitality of the Brazilian healthcare sector, which has a turnover of US$121 billion a year, representing some 8% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). Hospitalar traditionally influences over 25% of the annual sales turnover of the medical-hospital industry, and many companies program their product launches to coincide with the fair.

"In spite of the retraction in the global economy, especially in the U.S. and in Europe, the healthcare market in Brazil shows a positive performance, both in public and private sectors,” said Waleska Santos, M.D., founder and president of the Hospitalar trade fair. "The major Brazilian hospitals have not reduced investments in expansion, improvement and update of their facilities, thus keeping the market in motion.”

The amount of deals and business set by exhibitors reached $2.5 billion, a growth of 7% compared to 2008. Companies associated with the Brazilian Association of the Medical-Dental Industry (ABIMO; Sao Paulo, Brazil) generated $6.7 million in sales during the fair's International Business Roundtable (IBR), an event organized in partnership with the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (APEX, Brasilia, Brazil), surpassing the initial estimate by 40%. During the IBR event, 565 business meetings were held between 52 Brazilian companies and buyers from 12 countries.

"Brazil and Latin America are the focus for exports of many countries now, especially in this nowadays scenario,” said Katherine Shibata, international trade manager of Hospitalar. "We've been watching countries like England, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland bringing not only the same companies but also increasing the interest in new ones. New markets are their bet for sales recovery.”

Hospitalar 2010 will take place May 25-28, 2010, at Expo Center Norte, (Sao Paulo, Brazil), to avoid collision with the FIFA World Cup 2010 that will be hosted by South Africa.

Related Links:
Hospitalar 2009
Brazilian Association of the Medical-Dental Industry
Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency