São Paulo leads the ranking of cities with the best conditions to undertake
The president of Enap, Betânia Lemos, highlights the importance of the index. She explains that the study aims to investigate the conditions of entrepreneurship in the 101 most populous municipalities in Brazil. The president says that the ICE serves as a guide so that managers can act assertively in improvements related to the topic.
“It is very important for city managers to identify which factors they need to improve. So, it is a guide for city managers who want to improve their business environment, improve their entrepreneurship, so that they can identify where specifically they need to act. ENAP has the role of creating information and creating knowledge in this management area”, highlights the president.
ICE analyzes the business environment based on seven key dimensions for entrepreneur development: regulatory environment, infrastructure, market, access to capital, innovation, human capital and entrepreneurial culture.
According to Betânia Lemos, the “regulatory environment” assesses tax complexity and local taxes, for example. In “infrastructure”, the conditions of urban movement. In “market”, one of the evaluated factors is economic development. The fourth dimension is “access to capital”, which analyzes available financing sources for new ventures.
ICE also assesses “innovation” through a series of indicators, including the size of the innovating industry. “Human capital” is analyzed through the qualification of the workforce, for example. Finally, the survey measures the dimension of “entrepreneurial culture”, which is the interest of the local population in entrepreneurship.
In addition to leading the overall ranking, São Paulo also occupies the first position in the dimensions of infrastructure and access to capital. The Deputy Secretary for Economic Development and Labor in the municipality, Armando Júnior, says that the São Paulo City Hall has a range of programs and projects aimed at entrepreneurship. From micro and small entrepreneurs to large companies that want to invest in the city. Armando Júnior cites as an example the São Paulo Development Agency (ADE SAMPA), dedicated to supporting small businesses.
“Within ADE SAMPA, entrepreneurs here in the city of São Paulo can have access to all services aimed at opening the MEI, how to formalize, how to create their own business, an entrepreneurial training course, where they will be able to take the idea of paper and put it into practice with professional advice from ADE SAMPA agents. We also have credit lines of up to R$ 25,000 operated through the state government’s people’s bank so that we can give this economic boost to small businesses in São Paulo”, he explains.
Rodrigo Lagreca has been an entrepreneur in the city since 2006, when he founded “Home Carbon Energy Solutions”. In 2021, the entrepreneur formalized his second company, “Energy of Things”. He claims that the opening procedures were quite different. While the first was marked by large volumes of paper documents, in the second, the entire process took place electronically. For him, São Paulo has the best business environment in the country.
“I see the business environment in São Paulo, and specifically in the city of São Paulo, as the best environment in Brazil to do business. This is indisputable in my view. Not that other environments don’t have advantages or positive points, but the environment that brings together the greatest number of favorable attributes is São Paulo. Because of the proximity to the market, the proximity to customers, the variety of driving ecosystems and all the diversity that the environment offers”, points out Lagreca.
Florianópolis (SC) leads in terms of innovation and human capital. Goiânia (GO) has the best regulatory environment. Niterói (RJ) has the best economic development and the most potential customers and occupies the first position in the market dimension. While Boa Vista (RR) has the best entrepreneurial culture.
Cities that rose the most
Brasilia was the city that climbed the most positions in the general ranking: the federal capital rose from 69th to fourth place from 2022 to 2023. Next are Boa Vista (RR), which jumped from 47th to sixth position, and Aparecida de Goiânia ( GO) which jumped from 65th to 35th place. According to ICE, in the case of Brasília, the rise in the ranking is due to improvements in the regulatory environment and bureaucratic simplification, in addition to being in third place in the infrastructure ranking.
In Boa Vista, the interest of people and institutions in the municipality in entrepreneurship stands out. Which led the capital of Roraima to a significant gain in positions in the general ranking. Aparecida de Goiânia was the city in the interior with the greatest growth, according to ICE, due to the improvement in the regulatory environment and in the entrepreneurial culture.
By Brasil 61
