Neo-industrialization does not ignore trade and services, says secretary

The national secretary for Industrial Development, Innovation, Commerce and Services, Uallace Moreira Lima, stated that the country’s “neo-industrialization” proposal, as defended by the Vice President of the Republic and Minister Geraldo Alckmin, does not mean that the federal government will stop supporting the trade and services sector.

“When we talk about neo-industrialization (in Brazil) we are thinking of an articulation between industry, commerce and services. From the articulated effect that this neo-industrialization will have on sustainability and on the generation of highly qualified jobs and income”, said the secretary when participating, this Thursday (11), in the digital platform presentation that the Ministry of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services created to provide up-to-date information on electronic commerce in the country.

Still campaigning for the Presidency of the Republic, then-candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva promised that, if elected, he would seek to encourage industrial activities through new public policies. On the eve of the first round, Lula visited Ipatinga (MG), an important national steel hub located in the so-called Vale do Aço, and declared that “we are all aware that Brazil needs to return to being an industrialized country”.

After being elected, Lula continued to signal that reindustrialization is one of the priorities of his government. In January, when participating in the 7th Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac), the president went further, proposing that countries of the bloc to unite around a similar objective.

“We have to join forces in favor of better physical and digital infrastructure, the creation of value chains between our industries and more investments in research and innovation in our region”, said Lula.

As of April, vice-president and minister Geraldo Alckmin began to use the term neo-industrialization to refer to the Government’s proposal to strengthen areas in which the country already has installed capacity and potential to increase productivity in a sustainable manner.

“The question has always been: where do I manufacture well and cheaply? Now is where I manufacture well, cheaply and manage to offset carbon emissions? It’s in Brazil. Brazil is the great protagonist of this moment in the fight against climate change and in the advance of renewable energies”, emphasized Alckmin when being interviewed for the program The Voice of Brazil.

On the occasion, the vice-president pondered that, in order to leverage the industrial sector, which until the 1970s was responsible for 30% of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and currently accounts for just over 10%, it is necessary to reduce interest rates and implement a tax reform. The so-called tertiary sector, which encompasses trade and service activities, accounts for around 70% of the Brazilian GDP.

This Wednesday (10), while participating in a public hearing held by the Industry, Commerce and Services Commission, the deputy secretary of the Ministry of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services, Felipe Augusto Machado, commented on the use of the expression “neo-industrialization”. by Alckmin.

“In his words, it would not be a re-industrialization, but a neo-industrialization: an industrialization (done) under new bases. We are talking about a radical change in the technological paradigm”, stated Machado.

Also this Wednesday, the future president of the National Confederation of Industry (CNI), Ricardo Alban, defended the use of the expression neo-industrialization, claiming that it was a new concept of development for the sector. “The fact that we change our discourse, from reindustrialization to neoindustrialization, motivates us even more”, said Alban to Folha de S.Paulo. “When looking forward, we cannot say that it is simply a reindustrialization. Brazil was once more industrialized, but it still is, with cutting-edge industry niches (…) What we need now, in this neo-industrialization we are talking about, is to identify the windows of opportunity. Brazil has done little innovation, technology and development research.”