Rio - Brazil is making a concentrated effort to upgrade its computer industry. The effort seeks to generate more jobs requiring more skills, improving commercial relations with the international market and turning the sector trade deficit into a surplus.

According to Artur Nunes, at the Ministry of Science and Technology's Informatics Policy secretariat, Brazil remains a net importer of computer technology and pays US$1 billion in royalties annually for software use.

The international software market is worth US$257 billion annually. Brazil's presence in that market is modest. In 2000, while India exported software worth US$4 billion, Brazil exported US$81 million.

Even so, today the sector employs 180,000 skilled workers and has enormous skilled-job generating potential. Nunes says there is a high level of excellence in Brazilian software programs, citing the country's electronic voting system, and income tax declaration collection which takes place via internet.

Annually some 20,000 students in Brazil finish technical or university level courses in informatics.

Agência Brasil
Reporter: Daisy Nascimento
Translator: Allen Bennett
08/12/2004