Sebrae will invest R$ 2 billion in innovative solutions

Resources will be directed to MSEs until 2018

Sebrae will invest R$ 2 billion in innovation solutions for small businesses over the next four years, with a view to stimulating greater competitiveness in the segment. For this year, the goal is to serve 200 thousand companies with technology and innovation actions. In 2013, R$ 220 million were invested in serving 113,000 micro and small companies that implemented some type of innovation. The data were presented by the technical director of Sebrae, Carlos Alberto dos Santos, to the participants of the MEI Dialogues – Innovation to Insert Brazil in Global Value Chains, an initiative of the National Confederation of Industry (CNI), on July 24th , in Brasilia.
 
When talking about Innovation as a Strategy for Inserting Small Businesses into Global Value Chains, Carlos Alberto said that the challenge is to increase the productivity of the Brazilian economy and that small businesses play a relevant role in this process. They participate with 27% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to a recent survey carried out by the Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV) under the order of Sebrae.
 
This is a segment that represents 99% of formal companies in the country; it is a strong job generator and, however, the share in the value added to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is still small. “This condition ends up generating jobs in large quantities, but with low productivity”, pointed out Carlos Alberto. According to him, the main challenge to revert this situation is found in the innovation of processes, products and services. “It is necessary to raise awareness, identify needs and possibilities and offer and implement solutions to overcome this challenge”, he pointed out.
 
The IBGE Innovation Survey identified the need for technical qualification, in the case of workers, and in management for entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs, in addition to investments in capital goods. Carlos Alberto states that, for this reason, it is essential to establish a direct communication channel with micro and small companies. Sebrae works in this sense through 1,043 Local Innovation Agents (ALI), CNPq scholarship holders, who serve companies in loco for two years; and the Sebraetec platform, which, in partnership with 1,407 technological institutions, promotes innovation in small businesses.