RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's Ministry of Development, Industry and Trade announced on Tuesday that the country's exports target for 2010 aims at 168 billion U.S. dollars, up by 10 percent from 154 billion U.S. dollars registered in the past 12 months.

    From January to the third week in November, Brazilian exports totaled 134.6 billion U.S. dollars, with an average of 606.6 million U.S. dollars per business day.

    The figures are 24.4 percent lower than the amount registered in the same period last year. According to the ministry, the decrease can be attributed to the international financial crisis, which has caused a lot of turbulence in some of the foreign markets.

    "Brazil started 2009 with very severe effects of the international financial crisis, but had a relative recovery during the year," said the ministry's Foreign Trade Secretary, Welber Barral, during the 29th National Foreign Trade Meeting.

    That recovery has led the government to expect higher exports next year, said Barral, adding that the estimates are compatible with the predictions made by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

    Secretary Barral stressed that Brazil needs to diversify both its markets and the products it exports in order to achieve the target.

    The Brazilian export expectations for 2009 range from 155 to 160 billion U.S. dollars, while in 2008, exports reached a record-high 197.7 billion U.S. dollars.

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