Rio de Janeiro – Brazil rose from the tenth position in 2005 to the seventh position in 2007 as a destination for the outsourcing of information and communications technology (ITC) services, according to a report produced by international consultancy company AT Kearney for the a Brazilian Association of Information Technology and Communication Companies (Brasscom).
According to the Brasscom president, Antonio Gil, Brazil may dispute the second place in the global ranking of countries like Mexico, Russia, China and the Philipines, losing only to India. The study referring to 2008 has not yet been completed, but Gil believes that Brazil should have risen again. The annual classification of countries in the ITC market takes into consideration factors like the facility to do business, cost, knowledge and know-how.
The global offshore outsourcing market presented revenues of US$ 1.2 trillion last year, of which US$ 70 billion were export services. Of this total, Brazil participated with US$ 1.4 billion, with growth of 75% over the previous year.
For 2009, Antonio Gil revealed that the objective is to reach exports of US$ 2 billion, "with perspectives for being a little larger than that". Total global exports of software services (computer programs) should reach around US$ 84 billion next year. "Growth of 20%, despite the international financial crisis," he said.
The study shows that between 2008 and 2010, exports of offshore outsourcing should rise from US$ 70 billion to around US$ 100 billion, with positive signals for Brazil. Starting from the principle that India should contribute with 50% of the additional US$ 30 billion, there should be on the market another US$ 15 billion a year to be disputed by the remaining countries that are producers of ITC, among them Brazil, estimated Gil. "We plan to harvest US$ 2 billion now and US$ 3.5 billion in 2010," he added.
In the coming two or three weeks, the Brasscom president should present to the federal government a new study about the ITC infrastructure sector. Already named Growth Acceleration Program of the Information Technology Sector, the study shows bottlenecks to sector growth and what needs to be done in areas like broadband and tax breaks.
*Translated by Mark Ament
