Barueri, São Caetano and Florianópolis are the most competitive cities in Brazil – CLP

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Used as a source of data for the development of public policies and attracting investments, the second edition of the Ranking of Competitiveness and Sustainability of Municipalities, conducted by the Center for Public Leadership (CLP) and released today (22), ranks the cities of Barueri and São Caetano do Sul, both suburbs of São Paulo’s capital, and Florianópolis, the capital of Santa Catarina state, as the most competitive of the country.

In the previous edition, São Paulo occupied the third position, and this year fell to fourth, exchanging places with Santa Catarina’s capital Florianópolis. The list evaluates the 411 Brazilian municipalities with more than 80 thousand inhabitants, where more than half of the country’s population lives.

The study analyzes 65 indicators, such as the functioning of the government, fiscal issues, health, education, security, sanitation, environment, economic integration, and telecommunications.

Lucas Cepeda, CLP’s competitiveness coordinator, informs that the ranking serves as a tool for the population to evaluate public management, build public policies and attract private investments.

According to him, 23 of the 27 states use the list to develop public policies. For ten years, CLP has also published a ranking of the most competitive states. “Several companies and development institutions are looking at the ranking to decide investment allocation.”

FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

The new list does not bring many changes before 2020 but, in general, it presents advances, such as the issue of fiscal responsibility.

According to Tadeu Barros, director of operations at CLP, from the total of cities evaluated, 80% meet the limit of using 60% of net current revenue to pay staff. In 2020, it was 77%.

“It shows greater responsibility of the manager, something in which historically there is great irresponsibility.”

On the other hand, Barros evaluates that there is an agenda for resuming economic growth with a focus on employment and income in the post-pandemic period, but when looking at the indicator for opening new companies, he still sees too much bureaucracy.

Among the municipalities, 85% take more than 48 hours to open a company. “It is a demonstration of the great difficulty of entrepreneurship in the country,” says Barros.

STATES

Barros points out that, of the list of the 100 most competitive municipalities, 49 are from the state of São Paulo and the vast majority are in the South and Southeast regions. “The ranking clearly shows the disparity between Brazilian regions,” he says.

The first city outside the South/Southeast axis on the list is Recife, in position 55. Cepeda also calls attention to the state of Rio de Janeiro, which has 13 cities among the 100 worst on the list. “It is a situation that is not repeated in any other state in the South and Southeast.”

SÃO CAETANO LEADS THE LIST OF MOST SUSTAINABLE CITIES

The CLP ranking included indicators that evaluate the municipalities in relation to ESG (environment, social and governance) practices and SDGs (UN Sustainable Development Goals).

The list is different from the general score, with São Caetano in the lead, followed by Santos (SP), Barueri (SP), Curitiba (PR), Vinhedo (SP), Jundiaí (SP), Balneário Camboriú (SC), São Paulo and Campinas (SP), and Jaraguá do Sul (SC).

The mayor of São Caetano, Tite Campanella, says that the city has 100% treated sewage, door-to-door selective collection once a week, and common waste collection six times a week.