From the Newsroom
São Paulo – Greater Brazilian insertion in world trade is one of the industry, technology, and foreign trade policy guidelines detailed yesterday by development, industry, and foreign trade minister Luiz Fernando Furlan. These goals, to guide government and private company action with regard to industry, were approved yesterday by president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
According to the document, which was prepared in a joint effort between various ministries and government organizations, and was announced by minister Furlan yesterday, the actions to increase country participation in the international market include: export support through financing, export process simplification, tax breaks, commercial promotion and market prospecting, stimulation of Brazilian company distribution centers abroad and internationalization of companies, support to the insertion in international supply chains, and support to international consolidation of the Brazilian image and of Brazilian brands.
According to the information in the document, Brazil has an export growth rate lower than that of other developing countries. "The average world growth rate was around 7.5% a year between 1984 and 2002, while the average for Brazilian trade was 4.6% a year in the same period," says the study.
The government says that one of the main objectives of this industrial policy is to provide greater Brazilian insertion in world trade. With this in mind, apart from focusing on increasing export itself, the policy will also be turned to providing incentives for technological innovation and development, to industrial modernization, to increasing the productive scale and capacity, and to creating incentives to specific sectors considered strategic, such as the semiconductor, software, medication, and capital good sectors.
The government believes that conditions have been provided for the return of investment and economic growth, justifying the establishment of these targets. "Stabilization of the main macroeconomical variables, interest rate reduction, the return of internal credit, and Brazilian risk reduction are central aspects for a new beginning for private investment and economic growth," says the document.
Minister Furlan stated that, on December 10, the guides will be sent to the Economic and Social Development Council for evaluation. There, four committees are going to discuss them up to March 31, after which policies to be taken will be detailed.
To the minister, this should make it possible for the government to converge actions "and create a unique strategy for fund orientation." He went on to say that an improvement in Brazilian competitiveness and the promotion of government policy convergence are the main steps to be taken for the elimination of development jams.
He pointed out that the projects elaborated according to the industrial policy will need to be complemented by the companies or others involved. Furlan also added that the country does not use all its potential, but that these guidelines will help make this possible.
