Brazil launches National Export Culture Policy in bid to attract MSMEs into foreign trade

In a bid to bring smaller businesses into international trade, the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services (MDIC) launched the National Export Culture Policy (PNCE) on Monday, September 4th. The primary aim of this new policy is to increase the number of Brazilian exporters, mainly focusing on micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

During the event’s opening ceremony in Brasília, attended by technicians, officials, and representatives from 20 Brazilian states, Vice President and Minister of MDIC Geraldo Alckmin commented on the task at hand.

“In addition to exporting more, we need to include small businesses. We must allow all of Brazil to export. We have an important task at hand, which is to export with added value because if we look at Brazil’s export portfolio, it mainly consists of soybeans, crude oil, and iron ore. These three products make up 40% of Brazil’s exports. So, we need to add value, diversify further, and have more foreign trade destinations,” the minister said.

Minister Alckmin also discussed the ongoing effort to streamline the Single Foreign Trade Portal to simplify and reduce costs for companies engaged in foreign trade.

According to Alckmin, there is a significant effort to reduce bureaucracy and facilitate intra-regional trade, which is the focus of many exporting companies. “The world is globalized, but in terms of trade, it’s intra-regional. In Canada, the United States, and Mexico, 50% of trade is between them. In the European Union, 60% of trade is within its member countries – 27 countries. In Latin America, this percentage is 26%. We need to regain the market in our Latin American neighbors. And that’s where we sell value-added products like cars, trucks, and household appliances. So, we will make an effort here in our region to strengthen our trade further,” the minister declared.

Propitious Moment

Tatiana Prazeres, Secretary of Foreign Trade at MDIC, highlighted that Brazil is currently experiencing a favorable moment to implement the PNCE.

“This will be a historic year for Brazilian foreign trade. Brazil has never exported as much as in the first eight months of this year ($225 billion). At MDIC, we are committed to simplifying processes and reducing bureaucracy in foreign trade, and we will work together with all states to understand their specificities and needs. Besides regional disparities, when we talk about more inclusive foreign trade, we also want to encourage greater participation of women. A pioneering study by Secex released this year indicates that only 14% of exporting companies have a predominantly female presence in their ownership structures. We need to work to change this statistic,” said Tatiana.

The PNCE seeks to address the challenge highlighted in the recent diagnosis released by the study “Profile of Brazilian Exporting Companies – An Overview,” conducted by Secex/MDIC. According to the publication, only about 1% of firms in Brazil are exporters. Regionally, the South and Southeast regions account for 90% of exporting firms.

Decree No. 11,593

The PNCE was established by Decree No. 11,593, aiming to improve public policies in the sector. It focuses on developing and strengthening inclusive actions to enhance the participation of companies in Brazilian foreign trade while fostering greater coordination among agencies involved in promoting foreign exchange and supporting companies’ entry and permanence in foreign markets.

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