May 13, 2008 - www.channelworld.com.br

According to BRASSCOM and Softex, Brazil represents one of the most competitive choices in the international market.

The Productive Development Policy, announced yesterday (05/12) by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, definitively makes Brazil a valid alternative to countries like India, which has a good portion of its exports linked to the IT software and service sectors.

?The whole world sees Brazil as an alternative to India, but until now the government had not taken actions to that effect. Today the message was clear,? celebrates Antonio Carlos Rego Gil, president of BRASSCOM (Associação Brasileira das Empresas de Softwares e Serviços de TI).

To him the measures taken are economically significant, especially the payroll tax reduction, which may reduce taxes as much as by 13.5%. ?I can say that things got 13.5% easier. In certain sectors Brazil has higher technical capabilities than Russia, China or India. In some cases the Brazilian bid is more expensive, but it is more qualified,? he construes.

To Djalma Petit, market director for the Association for the Promotion of Excellence in Brazilian Software (Softex), the policy comes at a crucial moment: ?We were loosing market due to the devaluation of the dollar. A payroll tax reduction lets Brazil be more competitive in the international market.?

Petit points out that, even though the policy is geared toward exporting companies and not the industry in general, it will directly benefit exporting companies ? mostly medium to large companies. ?But taking into consideration the whole proposal, the entire industry will benefit, including small companies,? he says.

Descartes de Souza Teixeira, director of the Software Technology Institute (ITS), also has an optimistic view about the new measures. According to Teixeira, this is the stimulus that was missing for Brazil to gain ground in the global software market.

Antonio Carlos Gil, president of BRASSCOM, points out that the industry policy aims to increase software exports to 3.5 billion dollars by 2010 and create 100 thousand new jobs in the same period, placing Brazil among the 5 largest global information technology centers of the XXI Century. ?The measures announced by the government are the first step for the country to be counted among the three major centers,? Gil concludes.

Fabiana Monte and Rodrigo Caetano, of COMPUTERWORLD