Rio, a global city, which will host the G20 Summit – a group that is made of the largest and most important economies in the world – in 2024, has the stature of a country. The carioca population of 6,2 million people is larger than that of 43% of the countries in the world, such as Denmark, Finland, and New Zealand, and almost twice as large as Uruguay’s. Rio’s economy is the second largest in Brazil and larger than that of 80% of Latin America’s countries. If the city of Rio were a G20 member, it would occupy the 12th position in per capita GDP, ahead of nine countries – Russia, China, Argentina, Mexico, Turkey, South Africa, Indonesia, India, and even Brazil itself.
The importance of the city has not prevented it from suffering the impacts of the economic crises in the country and of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, Rio’s economy has been recovering, notably since 2021, under the new mandate of mayor Eduardo Paes. In the last three years, unemployment fell strongly, and the city became, once again, the second capital that generates the most formal jobs in the country, with reflexes in the reduction of social vulnerability.
The positive numbers of the economy are the result of the work that is being done since 2021. Several actions, bills of law and structuring initiatives, with short, medium, and long run impact, are being undertaken by City Hall, such as the emergency measures adopted to mitigate the economic impacts of the world’s health crisis. Many of such actions are led by the Municipal Secretary of Urban and Economic Development (SMDUE) and by Invest.Rio, City Hall’s investment promotion and attraction agency, connected to the secretary.
SMDUE has been working on process changes law proposals that aim to reduce bureaucracy and improve legal security to entrepreneurs in the city. Structural changes, such as the proposal for the coordination of the local airport sector, were also some of the main contributing factors to Rio’s economic development, besides the attraction of new companies and businesses that drive the economy and generate employment and income for cariocas. Including promoting and supporting the creation and consolidation of new markets in the city: such as the cryptocurrency and the carbon credit markets.
Rio wants to become the capital of innovation and technology in Latin America. For a transformation of this magnitude, it is necessary to undertake a series of measures and projects with long term vision, that adequately explore the potential vocations of the city, also with a sustainability perspective towards the green economy. This goal of becoming the capital of innovation of Latin America will lead Rio to create new companies, raise billions in tax revenue and generate high quality jobs.
Among the actions that were previously mentioned, we can cite Porto Maravalley, an innovation and technology hub in the port area that brings together, in the same physical space, IMPA Tech, the first undergraduate course ofInstitute of Pure and Applied Mathematics (IMPA), and several startups and technology companies, whose construction will be ready by December 2023. The ISS Tech, a tax incentive that aims to promote the development of the technological sector in the port area, with a reduction of the ISS (Service Tax) from 5% to 2%. Web Summit Rio, the carioca version of the biggest technology event in the world, that had it’s first edition in 2023 and that will have five more editions, at least until 2028 – with an estimated attendance of more than 800 thousand people and a potential economic impact of R$1,2 billion over the course of the six editions, if we consider the impact of other initiatives in the sector.
The Programadores Cariocas, a qualification project for cariocas for the technology job market, is another noteworthy initiative. City Hall pays for the course, provides a monthly financial aid of R$500 for the duration of classes and a notebook, that students who graduate get to keep. In the first cycle 750 students graduated, 70% of them black, 40% of them women and half of them from poor communities. Sandbox.Rio on the other hand, is an initiative that offers businesses and entrepreneurs a regulatory save haven for the experimentation of innovative solutions and projects. The goal is to obtain information that can properly guide the formulation of laws and public policies that allow the implementation of innovative products and services in the city, in a way that is both beneficial to the public and safe for companies and public authorities alike.
In the green economy sector, City Hall proposed the ISS Neutro – an innovative tax incentive initiative for companies connected to the carbon credit market to set up operations in the city, fostering the voluntary market. Besides the creation of a second hub in Rio: the CEFA - Centro de Energia e Finanças do Amanhã, which will focus on sustainable finance and the energy transition.
It should be noted that Rio will host, in April 2024, during the second edition of Web Summit Rio, the main meeting of Startup20 Brazil – an event about technology, innovation and entrepreneurship, sponsored by the official engagement group of Startups at G20. During the meeting, startup representatives, public agents, the private sector, and references in innovation from all around the world will be in the city. Panels on innovation and entrepreneurship are planned, as well as technical visits to innovation hubs, such as Porto Maravalley, universities and research centers.
Rio is a vibrating city, with a vocation for tourism and business. We are recuperating the confidence of investors and the carioca’s self-esteem. The economy has been growing in the last few years, which has already been reflected in the reduction of unemployment, for example.
The challenges are still great, but the results are increasingly visible to the population. We are reaping the fruits of our daily work, that started way back with an idea: transforming the city in the capital of innovation and technology in Latin America. With several events connected to G20 hosted in Rio, we will, once again, be at the center of discussions of relevant themes for today and for the future.
Chicão Bulhões, Secretary of Urban and Economic Development of Rio de Janeiro
