TPT July 2009

5 th International Tube, Fittings and Components Fair

6-8 October 2009

I n the first week of October, tube and pipe professionals will be streaming back to São Paulo, Brazil, from all points of the compass for the 2009 edition of Tubotech — the Fifth International Tube, Fittings, and Components Fair and the leading such event anywhere. With all due respect to the glamour of Brazil, it represents a practical choice of venue, never more so than in this year of bracing economic conditions worldwide. For business people eager to look, listen, and learn, Brazil is the place to be. Indeed, a recent Time Magazine article made a good case for Brazil as the only place to be. (“The One Country That Might Avoid Recession Is...,” 5 March) Writing from São Paulo, reporters Tim Padgett andAndrew Downie cited a recent study by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) indicating that, of 34 major economies, only Brazil may come to the end of 2009 without having suffered an extended decline in real gross national product. They noted that the country’s banks are well regulated and remain comparatively sound; thebusiness-friendly Brazilian government is spending $263 billion on tax breaks and infrastructure; and, while oil companies around the globe slash investment, Brazil’s state-run Petrobras is going ahead with a four-year, $174 billion expansion plan. “Brazil,” President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva boasted to Time , “is riding the current crisis better than many developed countries.”

ties between Brazil and the European Union, dating to 1960 or earlier. A European Commission communication to the European Parliament (“Towards an EU-Brazil Strategic Partnership,” 30 May 2007) emphasised the relationship by placing Brazil and the other Southern Common Market (Mercosur) countries of Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay high on the political map of the European Union. The first EU-Brazil Summit was held in July 2007, in Lisbon. Messe Düsseldorf is justly renowned for site selection. Its decision to join and co-organise Tubotech in Brazil was so perceptive as to seem inevitable. DATE 6-8 October 2009 VENUE Rodovia dos Imigrantes Expo Centre, São Paulo, Brazil SHOW HOURS 2pm-9pm ORGANISER CONTACTS Grupo Cipa Phone : +55 11 5585 4355 Fax : +55 11 5585 4359 SHOW FACTS Email : lccipa@cipanet.com.br Website : www.tubotech.com.br Messe Düsseldorf GmbH Fax : +49 211 4560 8525 Email : info@messe-duesseldorf.de Website : www.messe-duesseldorf.de SPONSORS ABITAM Fax : +55 21 2533 1872 Email : abitam@abitam.com.br Website : www.abitam.com.br International Tube Association

To be sure, the boom years of 5% growth and soaring exports are over. Industrial production is down. Particularly galling to proud Brazilians, the aircraft maker Embraer recently disclosed that the troubles of the air travel industry had reached it. This shining emblem of national prestige will be cutting almost one-fifth of its workforce. Even so, Brazilians are optimistic — and with good cause. Exports have been diversified so as to reduce reliance on commodities. The government has launched a popular and successful effort to encourage entrepreneurs steeped in the country’s bandeirante (pioneer) character. Work is set to begin this year on the hemisphere’s first bullet train, which will link São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The largest and most populous country in South America commands vast natural resources and a large labour pool. As the region’s greatest economic power, Brazil is a leader to be conjured with. A high note of Tubotech 2009 is the official participation, for the first time, of the Federal Republic of Germany. Brazil is Germany’s most important Latin American trading partner. There are 1,200 German-Brazilian companies providing jobs for some quarter of a million people, enabling Germany to make a significant contribution to Brazil’s economy. São Paulo has the largest concentration of German-owned overseas businesses anywhere. This association reflects the overarching historical, cultural, economic, and political

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