Brazil is more competitive, indicates Fiesp
Folha de S. Paulo
From 1997 to 2008, Brazil had an increase of 30.2% in its competitiveness, according to the research made by the Fiesp (Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo). This percentage places it as one of the five countries that improved the most in the period. Last year, the country climbed one step up, reaching the 37th place in a ranking that gathers 43 nations, responsible for nearly 90% of the world GDP (Gross Domestic Product). This evolution in the performance is due to the increase in the government expenditure in health and to the elevation of the HDI (Human Development Index) and the Gross Fixed Capital Formation (investments in the increase of the productive capacity of the country). Nonetheless, the study indicates that the heavy tax burden and the low level of technology have prevented greater advances.
The difference between the picture outlined by the ranking and the perception of the foreign entrepreneurs, who seem to be increasingly interested in putting their capital in the country, is a matter of time: the list shows the current situation, while the entrepreneurs have the long term in mind, when they expect to see the maturity of their businesses. "Brazil has a very strong demand for infrastructure that has been the target of the big international investors."
Another survey made by the Fiesp shows Brazil had a high level of resistance to the 2008/2009 international economic crisis but it does not confirm the national impression that the country was one of those that best came out of it. Brazil only appears in the 12th place. While the per capita GDP grew 0.3% between the first quarter of 2008 and that of 2009, Indonesia's increased 6.6%, for example. The industrial sector was the sector that suffered the most, with a 13.1% fall in production.
In its favor, the country had the increase of its international reserves, a small increase in unemployment and the Government action, which increased its consumption by 3% in the period and reduced the tax burden by 2.9%. The ratio between the public debt and the GDP went 0.3% up - one of the lowest rates seen among the 43 countries of the survey.