Ministry builds Internet kiosks for small cos.

Brazil's ministry of development, industry and foreign trade (MDIC) expects to have set up Internet kiosks for small businesses in all 5,560 of Brazil's cities by the end of 2007, a supplier for the project said in a statement. The government has built 21 such kiosks to date, and expects to have 29 installed by mid-January, said Brazilian IT firm Itautec, which signed a contract with MDIC on Tuesday to supply equipment and software. MDIC wants to offer small businesses access to the digital economy, and will also provide courses on e-commerce, site hosting and exports, the statement said. According to Brazil's federal small business support agency Sebrae, 53% of small businesses in the country's richest state, Sao Paulo, do not use computers.