The cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro were visited by about 30 executive from large global companies, as well as nine journalists and 12 market analysts and opinion formers, for the Brasscom Global IT Forum, which was held between June 8th and 10th. Classified as one of the largest IT forums in Latin America, the event was held in conjunction with the Gartner Outsourcing Summit 2010 – Latin America. “We achieved our aim of fostering business and showing Brazil’s potential as a strategic player for this sector,” said Antonio Gil, president of the Brazilian Association of Information Technology and Communication Companies (Brasscom). “We are doing our homework, but there is still a lack of entrepreneurship in Brazilian IT. The domestic market is very comfortable; it has grown sustainably and for a number of reasons has not looked at the international market. To sell overseas it has to work very hard,” added Gil.

Over the three days of the event over 75 meetings were held between sponsors and clients and over 30 interviews with international journalists were carried out. All of this was so that international guests could feel how important the event is and could get a close look at the potential in Brazil and the advantages of investing in the country. "We have got to show our competency and work on how to improve competitiveness. This event is just the first step of wide-ranging work,” said Gil.

However, the efforts to persuade people have already had an effect. Many of the participants said they believe that the market is defining contracts based on cultural relations, which puts Brazil at an advantage over its main competitors. They also stressed that the fact that salaries are higher has contributed to the quality and experience of the professionals on the market – which is an advantage when products and services are delivered.

Besides the real growth of the domestic market in Brazil, at first sight it seems that now is the time for Brazil to win a larger share of the global market. The country started from scratch about five years ago in exports of software and services and last year exports totaled US$ 3 billion – with the expectation that this year’s exports will total US$ 3.5 billion. In terms of volume, Brasscom recognizes that this is still a small figure considering that the global export market for software and services will reach US$ 101 billion in 2010, of which US$ 60 billion will go to India. “Although modest, Brazil’s share has grown significantly and fast. The potential in the country is enormous,” said Ricardo Asse, Marketing and International Market Director at Brasscom.

The coming of executives to Brazil and the holding of the conference is part of the project to promote IT exports and investment that Brasscom is running with the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil), and which is supported by the Ministries of Development, Industry and Commerce, and Science and Technology, and Brazil’s State-owned development bank, BNDES.