More technological parks start coming out of the paper
Valor Econômico
Until the end of the year, the São Paulo municipality of São Carlos will be the stage of the inauguration of the first third-generation technological park of the country, which gathers corporate and residential condominiums and leisure areas. The São Carlos Eco-Technological Damha Park, an undertaking of the Encalso group with the Inova Institute as the Manager, will receive, until the end of the infrastructure works, investments of nearly R$ 100 million (US$ 58 million). The investments of companies in the Park are estimated at $ 500 million ($ 290.7 million).
The project includes four corporate condominiums, four residential condominiums, a Golf Club, two horse riding courses and an area of environmental conservation.
The Damha Park took four years to come out of the project phase and become a commercial undertaking. As it happens in European countries, in order for these projects the take off they normally require an initial investment from the public sector. The companies get together at a second stage, after the installation of the infrastructure, notices the Executive Director of the Center for Innovation, Entrepreneurism and Technology (Cietec) and member of the Management Committee of the Anprotec Networks, Sergio Risola.
In many cases, restrictions in municipal legislation on the zoning and land use hamper the setting up of parks within a short period of time. In some regions is necessary to change the legislation so as to make allow the implementation of the project. Even in the capital of São Paulo, a joint effort of the public authorities was required in order to overcome regulatory barriers, notices the State Secretary of Development, Geraldo Alckmin.
In December 2008, the City and the State Governments executed a letter of intent for the establishment of two technological parks. The first starts being installed in Jaguaré, in the West Side of the city, where used to be the Museum of Science and Technology. The place was chosen due to the nearness to the University of São Paulo (USP), the Institute of Technological Research (IPT, in Portuguese) and the Cietec.
According to the Secretary of Development, there are seven parks in the State with provisional accreditation that should receive the final approval within the next two years: in São José dos Campos, São Carlos (two), Piracicaba, São José do Rio Preto Botucatu and Campinas. This week, the eighth park to obtain provisional accreditation will be Santos, which already has a non-continuous area of nearly 200,000 square meters set aside that will feature anchor sectors like oil and gas, logistics and information technology. A project for Barretos should also receive approval this year, says Alckmin
The State concentrates most of the parks in the country. From the 74 listed by the Anprotec, 10 are in operation and another 10 are under the phase of project or under construction. The spread of projects, according to Alckmin, partially results from the creation of laws that encourage the installation of these undertakings and reduce the tax burden for the companies willing to invest in such parks. In the case of São Paulo, companies may use the accumulated credit from the ICMS (State Sales and Services Tax) to invest in these business environments or get a discount on the collection of the tax when they acquire capital for the units installed in the parks.