ABSTRACT
The work looks at the current situation of the Brazilian industrial sector as well as the strategies carried out to increase external competition. It also analyzes two specific industrial sectors: food and petrochemicals, and their position regarding the process of integration with Argentina. The large increase in the Brazilian external trade balance during the 1980s was the result of some factors which seem difficult to sustain in the long run. On the other hand, the implementation of the industrial policy established from 1990 has been very slow. However, there is a clear disposition both in the private and public sector to carry out a process to improve competitiveness and to allow the survival of an industrial sector whose level of production is still higher than the Asian tigers all together. But the success of an industrial strategy will depend on the resolution of the current political and macroeconomic problems.
KEYWORDS:
Industrial policy; industrial sector; competitiveness