Reindustrialization is seen as necessary by presidential candidates

Discussions on strengthening Brazilian industry, in line with what several developed and emerging countries have been doing, also entered the agenda of pre-candidates for the Presidency of the Republic and their economic advisors.

as showed the Sheetindustry is the sector that has lost the most share of the economy in recent decades and has also lagged behind its international peers.

See what the representatives of the pre-candidates say.

Ciro Gomes (PDT)

Representative of the pre-candidate Ciro Gomes (PDT), economist Nelson Marconi says that the policy of development and recovery of employment in developed economies has a strategy for the recovery of the industrial sector.

The National Project for the Development of the pre-candidate foresees the creation of five new industrial complexes as part of the revitalization of the sector, in areas such as oil refining, health, defense and agribusiness (processing of cereals and fruits and pesticides, fertilizers and agricultural implements) .

Marconi defends the use of various instruments, such as public-private partnerships, state investment in infrastructure, specific credit lines for strategic sectors and public procurement policies and local content.

He states that he does not see room for tariff policies to protect certain sectors, even because of the restrictions imposed by the WTO (World Trade Organization).

“If you take a set of actions to stimulate the local productive sector, the use of tariffs will be much less important. What we want is not to close the economy.

For him, any policy must be preceded by macroeconomic stabilization. “One thing is essential. Having a stable macroeconomic situation, with low interest rates, financing conditions and the exchange rate at a level that makes it possible to export.”

Simone Tebet (MDB)

Advisor to Senator Simone Tebet (MDB), economist Elena Landau says that Brazilian industry ended up suffering from its own excess of protection and lack of international insertion.

She says that the sector is changing, because it has realized that it cannot offer quality products and advanced technology without access to inputs due to barriers to importing components.

“It is not possible to re-industrialize on the basis of what went wrong, of what brought the industry to such a low level in Brazil. We want an industry in the age of digitalization and very committed to the low carbon economy. we need international integration”, he says.

Landau says that the main objective of the candidacy is employability and he sees Brazil in a privileged position in the area of ​​the environment -noting that it is necessary to forget what the current government did-, a competitive advantage because of the clean energy matrix and the to enter the carbon market.

She states that budget subsidies and the use of BNDES may be necessary, but that it is necessary to evaluate the impact of these policies. “I’m not saying that the State does not have a role. It does have a role for the State, but in partnership. And the State has a lot to do: tax reform, provide legal certainty, simplify the life of the entrepreneur.”

João Doria (PSDB)

Economist Ana Carla Abrão, who is part of the economic advisor to former governor João Doria (PSDB), says that a broad tax reform, through the approval of the proposal that unifies taxes on consumption, is the main action to be taken in the search for efficiency gains for the Brazilian economy in general and, in particular, for the industry.

It also says that a trade liberalization policy that makes technology imports cheaper, whose tax burden represents about 50% of the industry’s costs, should be prioritized.

“Structural reforms, which generate competitiveness for national products and reduce their production and distribution costs, are the paths that will ensure that Brazilian industry is increasingly inserted in local and global chains of consumption. , generating employment, income and growth for Brazil, in a sustainable and permanent way”, he says.

“Effective and sustainable industrial policy is based on economic efficiency and stability, legal certainty and growth.”

Lula (PT)

Sought, the advice of the pre-campaign of ex-president Lula did not manifest. Lula has been talking about a new industrial policy and has recently suggested that he awaits the conclusion of studies by the Perseu Abramo Foundation to define a plan. The objective, according to him, is to identify sectors in which Brazilian companies can become competitive if they receive official support.

In an article for Sheet Written in January, the former Minister of Finance from 2006 to 2014, Guido Mantega, who participated in the Lula and Dilma Rousseff governments, said that a new PT member must resume industrial and technological investment policies, which restore the competitiveness of Brazilian industry , without forgetting climate and environmental issues.

In his weekly column in Sheet Last Friday (29), the also former Minister of Finance Nelson Barbosa (2016) stated that the idea that the government has an important role in coordinating and encouraging the transformation of production into market economies has returned to fashion. And that resilience to international shocks and productive diversification have returned to the top of the economic policy agenda in the US, Europe and Japan.

Jair Bolsonaro (PL)

Sought, the Ministry of Economy did not comment on the president’s plans in case of reelection. The government is currently discussing measures to stimulate domestic production of semiconductors, components that have been a global supply problem since the pandemic and that are crucial for the functioning of a range of products, from toys and cell phones to airplanes and defense systems.

There is still no definitive decision on what is needed to attract companies or what measures will be adopted, but Minister Paulo Guedes has signaled the possibility of cutting taxes to stimulate companies.

One of the initiatives analyzed is from the United States, where lawmakers have advanced a project of US$ 52 billion in subsidies for the production of semiconductors.

The country currently has the state-owned Ceitec (National Center for Advanced Electronic Technology) focused on semiconductors, but the company is in the process of liquidation.

The government also recently cut the rates of IPI (Imposto sobre Produtos Industrializados) for various products, with the aim of “stimulating consumption and competitiveness in the industry and making goods cheaper for the population”.