Brasília – The Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade aims to expand the participation of micro and small enterprises (MSE) in the international market. Currently, around 20,000 companies export goods and services. There are also 10,000 who export products. This operation in the foreign market totalled approximately 2 billion reals (US$ 1.3 billion) last year.
To increase this figure, the organisation has started a new research to identify the main problems faced by businessmen at the time of exporting goods and services. The study, to end on June 30, aims to guide government actions in the creation of public policies to stimulate the expansion of MSE exports.
This is the second time that the ministry tries to learn about the bottlenecks faced by micro and small exporters. Last year, an insufficient number of answers to the questionnaires sent to businessmen resulted in the technicians not tallying the results and restarting the process.
According to the director of the Trade Policy Department at the ministry, Maurício do Val, with this result it will be possible to optimise governmental relations. "Public policy actions will be turned to credit to micro and small companies," he finished off. To him, there are situations that deserve special attention, among them the difficulty to export due to the lack of access to support instruments as they reach producers in an inefficient way, compromising exports.
In the opinion of Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae) director Carlos Alberto Santos, there is still resistance by small entrepreneurs who believe that international competition is disloyal. "It is still hard for small companies to operate in foreign trade, not just due to exchange rates. It is necessary to establish a brand, and it is a long process, which often reduces the stimulus for small enterprises," he said.
Apart from that, according to Santos, micro and small businessmen are making use of the good moment for the domestic economy. "We are living an interesting moment in the economy. The domestic market is very heated. We do not need to go to China to fight for markets; the Chinese come here to fight for space. We have also prepared ourselves for a market dispute here," he explained.
According to the director of the Trade and Service Policy Department at the Ministry, the government is getting ready to supply the needs of micro and small companies interested in foreign trade. "The intention is for small companies to become interested in participating in Brazilian exports and gaining size to grow on the domestic market and expand their share of the foreign market, as they may grow to medium companies in case of success," he analysed.
Micro and small businesses interested in expanding their share or entering the foreign trade market may seek Sebrae units. The ministry research is available on site http://tinyurl.com/gargalos.
*Translated by Mark Ament
