Brasilia, 7/1/2004 (Agência Brasil) - The good news is that Brazil has a thriving small business sector with some 3.9 million small businesses. The problem, says minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Luiz Fernando Furlan, is that only 9,479 of them are exporters.

And that is why, explains the minister, that the government is doing so much to get more small businesses into exports, so jobs can be created and economic development take place.

According to Furlan, that effort has begun to bear fruit. Last year small business sector exports reached US$1.7 billion, an increase of 30% over 2002. For the sake of comparison, Brazilian exports on the whole rose 21% last year.

Furlan pointed out that the government is preparing personnel for the task. A total of 155 teachers, 2.000 export agents and 6,000 businessmen are undergoing training at the moment in the practice of exporting.

The minister also reports that small businesses are being encouraged to form associations. As a group they can obtain easier access to credit, for example.

(Translator: Allen Bennett)