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DUBAI, 9 February 2011 – DISTREE Events is expanding into the Latin American market in 2011, driven by demand from ICT and consumer electronics (CE) vendors for a regional channel development platform. DISTREE Latin America will offer easy access to major buyers from across this vast region in one place at one time.
The inaugural DISTREE Latin America will take place at the Jequitimar Sofitel in Guaruja, Brazil, from September 13th to 15th 2011. DISTREE Events has more than a decade’s experience of running business-focused channel development events. The company already operates events covering Europe, Russia & CIS, the Middle East and Africa.
“We’ve been listening closely to the needs of our vendor partners,” explained Farouk Hemraj, CEO at DISTREE Events. “They understand the power of our event format and have expressed a clear interest in seeing us expand into Latin America. We have invested in developing our local resources in the region and canvassed the opinions of major distributors, resellers and retailers operating in the market. The time is right for this next step in DISTREE Events’ international expansion.”
DISTREE Latin America will offer a compelling combination of pre-scheduled one-on-one meetings, conference programme, exhibition, awards, new technology showcase and workshop sessions to deliver a comprehensive business development platform for both vendors and channel partners. The event will also include an ‘invitation only’ Strategy Forum for senior executives to discuss the major issues and trends impacting market growth and development.
More than 400 delegates including senior executives from the top 150 distributor and retailer partners in South America, Central America and the Caribbean are set to attend DISTREE Latin America 2011. The Latin American market offers huge growth potential for ICT & CE vendors. With a regional population of more than 570 million and solid economic growth, the Latin American market is ripe for inward investment and channel development.
“As with all emerging markets, vendors need a solid understanding of channel dynamics to plan and build their business and routes-to-market,” said Tawfik Djafari, Regional Director Latin America at DISTREE Events. “The transition from offshore supply models to in-country channel development is happening fast in Latin America.”
The first ever vendor-neutral channel awards for the Latin America region will also take place at DISTREE Latin America in September 2011. The ‘LatAm Channel Academy: 2011 Awards’ will celebrate excellence in IT retail and distribution. A total of 25 awards up for grabs, with the winners decided by a live electronic vote during the event’s Gala Dinner.
The DISTREE Latin America team, including Regional Director Tawfik Djafari, are participating at this week’s DISTREE XXL event in Monaco, ready to field inquiries from the 120-plus attending vendors regarding the new addition to DISTREE Events’ calendar. Participants attending the Monaco event can find out more at the DISTREE Latin America booth in the main exhibition hall.
Djafari added: “DISTREE Latin America is the perfect opportunity for vendors to make a real impact in Latin America and take advantage of the region’s strong growth potential. We want to form true partnerships with vendors, giving them an efficient and cost-effective platform for launching, developing or managing channels within the region.”
“The pre-event research has given us a wealth of data on the size and structure of existing channels in Latin America. We look forward to discussing the opportunities that exist with vendors in the coming months, and welcoming them to Brazil in September 2011,” he concluded.
